Risk of Seizures Is Higher After COVID-19 Than After Influenza

A recent study published in Neurology showed that people who have a COVID-19 infection are more likely to develop seizures or epilepsy within the next 6 months than people who have an influenza infection. The increased risk was more noticeable in children than adults, and in people who did not need hospitalization for COVID-19. 

For the study, researchers looked at a health records network for people with COVID-19 and matched them with people who were diagnosed with influenza during the same time period. The participants were similar in age, sex, and other factors, such as other medical conditions. 

The results showed that the people who had COVID-19 were 55% more likely to develop epilepsy or seizures over the next 6 months than those who had influenza. The rate of new cases of epilepsy or seizures was 0.94% in the people who had COVID-19 compared with 0.60% in those who had influenza. 
  
“While the overall risk of developing seizures or epilepsy was low—less than 1% of all people with COVID-19—given the large number of people who have been infected with COVID-19, this could result in increases in the number of people with seizures and epilepsy,” said Arjune Sen, MD, PhD, University of Oxford. “In addition, the increased risk of seizures and epilepsy in children gives us another reason to try to prevent COVID-19 infections in kids.” 
  
There were 152,754 people in each of the COVID-19 and influenza groups. None of the participants had been previously diagnosed with epilepsy or recurrent seizures.