Stress and emotional after effects of children with meningitis and septicaemia

Research archive

Most people who get meningitis and septicaemia survive, often without any after effects, but sometimes these diseases cause physical, mental or emotional problems that can alter people's lives. Little is understood about these after effects in children, for example whether they are temporary or permanent, or what effect they have on the ability to learn.

In an earlier Meningitis Research Foundation funded study, the researchers found that after severe meningitis or septicaemia, some children develop visual and verbal memory difficulties, which cause problems with attention and learning. Building on this work, the aim of the new 3-year study is to look into more detail at these complications in school-aged children. The researchers are especially interested in whether these after effects are associated with stress, which is often triggered by illnesses like meningitis and septicaemia, particularly if the patient goes into shock.

One way to measure stress is to look at the levels of two naturally produced chemicals, called cortisol and amylase, found in saliva. Both of these chemicals are increased by stress. The researchers will take saliva samples from children 3-6 months after discharge from hospital and measure the levels of these chemicals.  They will compare this with levels measured in healthy children. This will happen at the same time as the children's learning and memory assessment, described in the related study above. Children who are found to have reduced mental well-being will be tested again 12 months later, to see if these effects persist over time.

The findings of this study will give clues about whether increased stress is responsible for some of the after effects associated with severe infections. Identifying these mental difficulties and understanding their causes will help us to reduce educational and social distress in survivors of meningitis and septicaemia.