Bacterial meningitis in childhood linked to long-term disabilities

Individuals who contracted bacterial meningitis as children appear to be at greater risk of having long-term disabilities, as reported in a study from Sweden.

For the study, researchers used data from the Swedish National Patient Register. They identified 3,623 individuals diagnosed with bacterial meningitis during childhood and 32,607 general population controls matched by age, sex, and place of residence. The median age at diagnosis was 1.5 years, and 55.8 percent were men. The median follow-up duration was 23.7 years.

The main outcome measure was the cumulative incidence of seven disabilities—namely cognitive disabilities, seizures, hearing loss, motor function disorders, visual disturbances, behavioural and emotional disorders, and intracranial structural injuries—following bacterial meningitis in childhood.

Compared with controls, individuals diagnosed with bacterial meningitis had higher cumulative incidence of all seven disabilities. Of note, 29.0 percent of those who had bacterial meningitis had at least one disability.

Contracting bacterial meningitis in childhood was associated with a significant increase in the risk of all seven disabilities. The association was most pronounced for intracranial structural injuries (hazard ratio [HR], 26.04, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 15.50–43.74), hearing loss (HR, 7.90, 95 percent CI, 6.68–9.33), and motor function disorders (HR, 4.65, 95 percent CI, 3.72–5.80).

Of note, the risks of cognitive disabilities, seizures, hearing loss, and motor function disorders associated with bacterial meningitis were significantly higher for Streptococcus pneumoniae infection (eg, HR, 7.89, 95 percent CI, 5.18–12.02 for seizure) than for Haemophilus influenzae infection (HR, 2.46, 95 percent CI, 1.63–3.70) or Neisseria meningitidis infection (HR, 1.38, 95 percent CI, 0.65–2.93).

Finally, the risks of cognitive disabilities, seizures, behavioural and emotional disorders, and intracranial structural injuries were significantly higher among children diagnosed with bacterial meningitis at an age below the median.