Seizures Related to Influenza in Pediatric Patients: A Comparison with Seizures Associated with Other Respiratory Viral Infections

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 10; no. 14; p. 3088
• Main Authors: Han, Ji Yoon, Han, Seung Beom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 13-07-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Bacterial infections; Body temperature; Clinical medicine; Convulsions & seizures; Electroencephalography; Epilepsy; Fever; Infections; Influenza; Magnetic resonance imaging; Patients; Pediatrics; Statistical analysis; Viral infections; Viruses; United States > US
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm10143088

Although febrile seizures are the most common neurological complications of influenza, there are few studies comparing seizure characteristics and outcomes between patients with influenza and those with other respiratory virus (RV) infections. Medical records of pediatric patients presenting with seizures accompanied by fever, in whom RV infections were identified, were retrospectively reviewed to compare the characteristics and outcomes of seizures with fever due to influenza (n = 97) to those due to other RV infections (n = 113). Patients with influenza were older than those with other RV infections (p < 0.001), and 22.7% of them were aged ≥5 years. Seizure characteristics of complex febrile seizures were observed more frequently in patients with other RV infections than in those with influenza; however, the frequency of epilepsy was comparable between the two groups. For patients with influenza, children aged <5 years and those aged ≥5 years showed similar seizure characteristics and outcomes. Further neurological evaluations should not be based solely on patient age in children with influenza who experience late-onset seizures at ≥5 years of age. Long-term sequelae should be further investigated in these patients.