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Serious disabilities after meningitis remain alarmingly high
02 September 2005
Results of a Meningitis Research Foundation funded study, published today in the on-line version of the European Journal of Pediatrics, reveal that while more babies who had meningitis during the first four weeks of life survived, the number of survivors with disability at five years of age remains alarmingly high.
In the largest national study of its type, researchers from the Department of Paediatrics at Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital examined the development of 166 children born in England and Wales during 1996-7 who had meningitis during the first four weeks of life. The results were compared to children of the same age who did not have the disease, and to the results from an earlier national study carried out on children born in 1985-7.
Meningitis during the first four weeks after birth can be caused by a number of bacteria and viruses, the most prevalent of which are Group B streptococcus and E. coli. The study found that, mainly due to improved treatment, more babies born in 1996-7 survived (93.4%), compared to those born in 1985-7 (78%).
However, this improvement was not reflected in the incidence, at five years of age, of serious disability, such as impairment in intellectual development, learning, vision, hearing, speech and language, and behaviour. Of those born between 1985-7, there was an incidence of serious disability at age five of 25.5%, while in those born in 1996-97 the incidence rate only declined to 23.5%.
Lead researcher John de Louvois said: "Our latest nationwide study of meningitis in very young babies shows that despite dramatic improvements in the care of the newborn, the incidence of serious disability at five years of age remains high and many children will carry the burden of such disability into later life"
Meningitis Research Foundation Chief Executive, Denise Vaughan commented: "The study reveals the sometimes hidden costs of meningitis in terms of serious disabilities. It also shows the continuing need for research to improve the quality of life for recovering children and the development of vaccines against all types of the disease."
Read more about this project:
Research archive for the public - A national study of ability and disability in five-year old children who had meningitis when they were newborn babies
Research archive for the scientific community - Five year follow-up of a national cohort of children who suffered from meningitis during the neonatal period