Meningitis adversely affects GCSE results
21 March 2007
Meningitis Research Foundation is today calling for routine educational assessment of all children who contract meningitis in infancy following the findings from a large national study funded by the Foundation and published today by Archives of Disease in Childhood. The study reveals that having meningitis in infancy has a major adverse impact on a child's GCSE results.
Said Dr John de Louvois, principal researcher on the project: "We took 461 teenagers who had bacterial meningitis in infancy and 289 matched controls. A quarter of survivors failed to pass any GCSE examinations at grade C or above and nearly half of those attending state schools did not attain the national educational standard. 'Healthy' survivors of bacterial meningitis in infancy passed significantly fewer GCSE examinations than the controls."
Meningitis Research Foundation Chief Executive Denise Vaughan commented: "This is the first published report on the educational achievements of a large group of teenagers who suffered from meningitis during their first year of life. The results indicate that those who had bacterial meningitis in infancy should have continuous post-infection assessment."
Read more about this project:
Current Research for the public -A national study of ability and disability in five-year old children who had meningitis when they were newborn babies
Current Research for the scientific community - Five year follow-up of a national cohort of children who suffered from meningitis during the neonatal period
Media Contact: Julia Warren - 01454 281811 or 07711 057875