[A clinical study of influenza A virus infection with neurological symptoms in children]

To study the clinical features of children with influenza A virus infection and neurological symptoms.

A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of children with laboratory-confirmed influenza A and neurological symptoms who were treated in Xi'an Children's Hospital Affiliated to Xi'an Jiaotong University from January to December, 2019.

A total of 895 children were diagnosed with influenza A, among whom 291 had neurological symptoms. Boys had a significantly higher incidence rate of influenza A than girls (P < 0.05), and the children aged 1-3 years had a significantly higher incidence rate than the other age groups (P < 0.05). Common neurological symptoms included seizures (97.3%), vomiting (24.1%), and headache (7.2%). Febrile seizures were the most common type of seizures, accounting for 88%. There was no significant difference in the time from disease onset to seizures and frequency seizures between the children with a history of febrile seizures and those without such history (P > 0.05). Of all the children, 3 were diagnosed with acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE), all of whom were girls and suffered seizures; the time from the first seizures to the occurrence of disturbance of consciousness was 0-7 hours, and 2 girls died within 2 days after disease onset. All children, except 2 who died of ANE and 1 with neurological sequelae, were cured.

There is a high incidence rate of neurological symptoms in children with influenza A, and seizures are the most common symptom. Most of the patients with neurological symptoms tend to have a good prognosis, but those with ANE may have a poor prognosis.