Long-Term Disability Risk Seen After Childhood Bacterial Meningitis

Risk higher for seven specific disabilities

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Childhood bacterial meningitis significantly increases the risk for having at least one of seven long-term disabilities, according to a study published online Jan. 19 in JAMA Network Open.

Salini Mohanty, Dr.P.H., from Merck & Co. Inc. in Rahway, New Jersey, and colleagues assessed the long-term risk for disabilities among individuals diagnosed with bacterial meningitis in childhood. The analysis included 36,230 Swedish individuals diagnosed with bacterial meningitis (younger than 18 years) and matched (1:9) general population controls with up to 35 years of follow-up (1987 through 2021).

The researchers found that individuals diagnosed with bacterial meningitis had a higher cumulative incidence of all seven examined disabilities (cognitive disabilities, seizures, hearing loss, motor function disorders, visual disturbances, behavioral and emotional disorders, and intracranial structural injuries), with 29.0 percent having at least one disability. The highest relative risk for cases versus controls was seen for intracranial structural injuries (hazard ratio, 26.04), hearing loss (hazard ratio, 7.90), and motor function disorders (hazard ratio, 4.65). Risks for cognitive disabilities, seizures, hearing loss, and motor function disorders were significantly higher for Streptococcus pneumoniae infection versus Haemophilus influenzae infection or Neisseria meningitidis infection. Risk for cognitive disabilities, seizures, behavioral and emotional disorders, and intracranial structural injuries were significantly higher for children diagnosed with bacterial meningitis younger than the median age (1.5 years at diagnosis).

“The relative risk of disabilities tended to be highest during the first years after a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis but remained higher during the period starting over five years after diagnosis, suggesting that bacterial meningitis has both acute and long-term consequences,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.