One in three children with bacterial meningitis develops irreversible neurological abnormalities as a result of the infection.
This is according to a recent epidemiological study conducted by Karolinska Institutet and published in the top medical journal JAMA Network Open.
For the first time, experts have identified the long-term health effects of bacterial meningitis. Bacterial infections are currently treated with antibiotics, although this usually causes irreparable neurological damage. And because children are often affected, the consequences are serious.
Also read: Meningitis in Newborns: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention
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“When children are affected, the whole family is affected. If a three-year-old has cognitive impairment, motor disability, vision or hearing is impaired or lost, it has a huge impact. These are lifelong disabilities that They become a major burden for both the individual and society, as affected people require health care support for the rest of their lives,” says Dr. Svetkov, associate professor in medical microbiology at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet and one of the authors of the current study. One, Federico Iovino said.
By analyzing data from the Swedish Quality Register on bacterial meningitis between 1987 and 2021, researchers were able to compare just over 3,500 people who suffered from bacterial meningitis as children with more than 32,000 matched controls from the general population. With the people. The average follow-up time is more than 23 years.
The results show that people who are diagnosed with bacterial meningitis have a higher prevalence of neurological disability such as cognitive impairment, seizures, visual or hearing impairment, motor impairment, behavioral disorders or structural damage to the head.
The risk was highest for structural head injuries – 26 times the risk, hearing loss – approximately eight times the risk, and motor impairment – approximately five times the risk.
About one in three people affected with bacterial meningitis had at least one neurological impairment, compared with one in ten controls.
“This shows that even if the bacterial infection is cured, many people suffer neurological impairment afterward,” said Federico Iovino.
With the long-term effects of bacterial meningitis identified, Federico Iovino and his colleagues will now advance their research.
“We’re trying to develop treatments that can protect neurons in the brain during the few days it takes for antibiotics to have full effect. We now have very promising data from human neurons and we’re working on that with animal models. are entering the preclinical phase. Ultimately, we hope to introduce it into the clinic in the next few years,” said Federico Iovino.
