Adult survivors of childhood bacterial meningitis have lower educational achievement and a lower likelihood of economic self-sufficiency than matched healthy controls.

The short-term sequelae of childhood bacterial meningitis can include hearing loss, motor deficits, seizures, and cognitive impairment. But what about functioning in adult life? In a recent cohort study, investigators used national patient registries in Denmark to compare the educational achievement and economic self-sufficiency of individuals with meningococcal, pneumococcal, or Haemophilus influenzae meningitis diagnosed between 1977 and 2007, before age 12 years, with those of age- and sex-matched controls who had not had meningitis. To assess for family-related cofactors, the researchers also evaluated the siblings and parents of these two cohorts.

Survivors of pneumococcal or H. influenzae meningitis were less likely than matched controls to complete high school or to obtain higher education by age 35. They also were less likely to attain these goals than their siblings, who performed similarly to the siblings of controls. In contrast, although meningococcal meningitis survivors were less likely than controls to complete high school or to obtain higher education by age 35, these survivors had educational achievement comparable to that of their siblings, who had lower achievement than the siblings of controls. Educational achievement was lower among parents of meningococcal meningitis survivors than among parents of controls; achievement among pneumococcal and H. influenzae meningitis survivor parents was comparable to that among controls. By 2010, fewer survivors than controls were economically self-sufficient (–3.8%, –10.6%, and –4.3%, respectively, for meningococcal, pneumococcal, and H. influenzae meningitis).

Comment: This large, well-designed study confirms sustained intellectual and economic sequelae of childhood bacterial meningitis but also suggests different routes to these long-term effects. Intellectual and economic impairments are likely direct consequences of the severity of pneumococcal and H. influenzae meningitis. However, family factors appear to predominate in the poorer intellectual and economic achievements of meningococcal meningitis survivors.

Source: Journal Watch Infectious Diseases