Risk of epileptic seizures higher in kids after COVID-19 infection than after influenza

There were 152,754 people in each of the COVID-19 and influenza groups.

People who had COVID-19 were 55% more likely to develop epilepsy or seizures over the next six months than people who had influenza. The rate of new cases of epilepsy or seizures was 0.94% in the people who had COVID-19, compared to 0.60% in those who had influenza.

"People should interpret these results cautiously since the overall risk is low," Sen said. "We do, however, recommend that health care professionals pay particular attention to individuals who may have more subtle features of seizures, such as focal aware seizures, where people are alert and aware of what is going on, especially in the three months following a less severe COVID-19 infection."

A limitation of the study was that researchers were unable to identify which specific virus variants people were infected with, which could have influenced results.

The study was supported by the British National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.

Reference:

Maxime Taquet, Orrin Devinsky, J. Helen Cross, Paul J Harrison, Arjune Sen. Incidence of Epilepsy and Seizures Over the First 6 Months After a COVID-19 Diagnosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Neurology, 2022; 10.1212/WNL.0000000000201595 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000201595