Covid Epilepsy Risk, Infections May Increase The Risk Of Seizures And Epilepsy, Research

Last Updated on November 21, 2022 by Dr Bucho

The researchers believe after 6 months of post covid infections, patients may suffer from epilepsy and seizures.

According to the studies there may be covid epilepsy risk, after 6 months of post covid 19 infections, patients may suffer from epilepsy and seizures. Researchers point out that the risk of developing seizures or epilepsy after contracting COVID-19 remains low, with less than 1% of people with COVID-19 experiencing these symptoms. acc to the recent studies published in the journal Neurology, The researchers analyzed the health records of 152,754 people with COVID-19 and compared them with the same number of people who had been diagnosed with the flu, comparing two groups that were similar in age, sex, and other factors such as underlying medical conditions.

COVID-19 patients were more likely to develop epilepsy than influenza patients

After seeing if any patients had seizures or were diagnosed with epilepsy within 6 months of infection, the researchers found that COVID-19 patients were more likely to develop epilepsy. Seizures during that time period were 55% higher than in patients with influenza. This risk is also more common in children than in adults, as well as in people who do not need to be hospitalized when infected. It turns out that the rate of new cases of epilepsy or convulsions is 0.94% for patients with COVID-19 and 0.60% for patients with influenza.

Limitations of studies

Although it is still unclear why these COVID-19 patients had seizures, the researchers developed two different hypotheses. For people who are critically ill, the researchers hypothesized that the seizures could be triggered by sleep deprivation, electrolyte imbalances, or metabolic disturbances, according to HealthDay News. However, for people with mild COVID-19, the researchers believe that inflammation may be a contributing factor in the onset of post-infectious seizures. The study’s leading author, Dr. Arjune Sen, told Science Daily that doctors should therefore pay attention to “individuals who may have more subtle features of seizures, such as seizures. focal conscious epilepsy, where people are awake and aware of what is happening.”, especially within three months of a less severe COVID-19 infection.”

Conclusions

The incidence of new seizures or epilepsy diagnoses in the six months following COVID-19 was low overall, but higher than in matched patients with influenza. This difference was more marked in people who were not hospitalized, highlighting the risk of epilepsy and seizures even in those with less severe infection. Children appear at particular risk of seizures and epilepsy after COVID-19 providing another motivation to prevent COVID-19 infection in pediatric populations. That the varying time of peak risk related to hospitalization and age may provide clues as to the underlying mechanisms of COVID-associated seizures and epilepsy.Reference Journal

The studies were received on May 4, 2022
Accepted in final form October 6, 2022.
The studies were supported by the British National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre
- Reference: Neurology

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