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Outcome in children with enteroviral meningitis during the first year of life
Insights
Infantile enteroviral meningitis survivors show no major neurologic impairments. These children performed as well as their siblings in cognitive, language, and academic skills, indicating normal development.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Pediatrics
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Enteroviral meningitis is a serious infection in infants.
- Potential long-term neurologic and developmental effects are a concern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate and compare neurologic, psychologic, language, and academic skills in children with a history of infantile enteroviral meningitis and their siblings.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 45 infants with enteroviral meningitis was studied.
- Survivors underwent comprehensive neurologic, cognitive, and developmental assessments.
- Control group comprised siblings of survivors.
Main Results:
- No major adverse neurologic sequelae were observed in survivors.
- Survivors performed comparably to their siblings across all tested domains.
- No overt or covert impairments in neurologic function or development were detected.
Conclusions:
- Infantile enteroviral meningitis does not appear to cause significant long-term neurologic or developmental deficits.
- Early childhood enteroviral meningitis may have a favorable prognosis regarding neurodevelopment.
Abstract:
The neurologic, psychologic, language, and academic skills were evaluated and compared in children who had had enteroviral meningitis in infancy and their siblings. The study population consisted of 45 children in whom enteroviral meningitis developed between the ages of 4 days and 12 months. Three died of heart failure caused by viral myocarditis. Thirty-three survivors and 31 siblings were comprehensively evaluated with physical and neurologic examinations; hearing, vision, and achievement tests; and tests of cognitive, perceptual-motor, language, memory, and emotional-behavioral functions. The remaining nine survivors of meningitis and eight of their siblings were assessed by telephone interviews and analysis of school and medical records. None of the survivors had major adverse neurologic sequelae. In addition, they performed as well as their siblings on all tests administered. Our study did not demonstrate either overt or covert impairments of neurologic function or development in survivors of infantile enteroviral meningitis.