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Long term follow up after meningitis in infancy: behaviour of teenagers
S Halket1, J de Louvois, D E Holt
1Department of Paediatrics, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
Insights
Infantile meningitis can lead to long-term behavioral issues in teenagers. Children who survived meningitis in infancy showed more behavioral problems compared to their peers, impacting their education.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric neurology
- Developmental psychology
- Public health
Background:
- Infantile meningitis is a serious infection with potential long-term consequences.
- Understanding the lasting effects of meningitis on child development is crucial for early intervention and support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the long-term behavioral outcomes in teenagers who experienced meningitis during infancy.
- To compare the behavior of meningitis survivors with a matched control group.
Main Methods:
- A national postal survey was conducted using standardized behavioral questionnaires for parents and teachers.
- Study included 739 children who survived infantile meningitis (England and Wales, 1985-1987) and 606 matched controls.
Main Results:
- Parents rated 46% of meningitis survivors (with complications) as having behavioral problems, versus 21% of controls.
- Teachers rated 37% of survivors as having behavioral problems, versus 23% of controls.
- Eight meningitis survivors were excluded from school, compared to none in the control group.
Conclusions:
- Teenagers with a history of infantile meningitis exhibit significantly more behavioral problems than their peers.
- These behavioral differences, noted by both parents and teachers, suggest a lasting impact of early-life meningitis.
Aims:
To determine the effects of meningitis in infancy on subsequent teenage behaviour.
Methods:
A national postal survey of parents and teachers using an established standard behavioural questionnaire. Subjects were 739 of the surviving children from the national incidence study of infantile meningitis in England and Wales carried out between 1985 and 1987, together with a group of 606 matched controls that had been recruited when the index cases were 5 years old.
Results:
46% of parents of children who had had meningitis with complications in infancy, compared with 21% of parents of control children rated their children as having behavioural problems. When the children were rated by their teachers, 37% and 23% respectively, were scored as having behavioural problems. There was no significant difference in behaviour between the 103 children who had had meningitis during the first month of life and the 634 who had had postneonatal meningitis. Eight of the index children had been excluded from school compared to none from the control group.
Conclusions:
The behaviour of teenage children who had meningitis in infancy is worse than that of control children who did not have infantile meningitis when rated by parents and teachers.
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