Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Practical and Theoretical Considerations
Brian J. Lukey, James A. Romano, Salem Harry in Chemical Warfare Agents, 2019
It is well known by pediatricians that children are more prone to seizures than adults, infants having the highest percentage. Febrile seizures, and seizures of unknown origin, are not uncommon in the younger pediatric population. Moreover, the presentation of these seizures in children is frequently different and variable from the presentation that is seen in the adult. While classical tonic-clonic seizures are seen in children (extreme “stiffness” of skeletal muscles associated with jerking movements and loss of consciousness), other common seizure presentations occur. Atonic seizures (skeletal muscles becoming limp and unable to support the individual, with resulting collapse to the ground), as well as “absence seizures,” a state in which the individual’s mind seems “absent from the world” or the individual seems to be “staring into space” (a “trance”-like state), are common in children. Absence seizures tend to have short or very short durations and are frequently missed by observers. While a detailed discussion of childhood seizures is far beyond the scope of this chapter, the key factor to be gleamed from this discussion is that children are more prone to seizures than adults.
Influenza Virus and CNS Infections
Sunit K. Singh, Daniel Růžek in Neuroviral Infections, 2013
Febrile seizures occur in approximately 20% of hospitalized infants and adolescents with influenza. In Hong Kong, it has been reported that 19.9% (54/272) and 18.8% (27/144) of children aged 6 months to 5 years hospitalized with influenza A infection in 1997 and 1998, respectively, had one or more febrile seizures (Chiu et al. 2001). There are two types of febrile seizures, simple febrile seizure and complex febrile seizure. The simple one is typical and characterized by single seizures that manifest as generalized tonic—clonic or clonic convulsions lasting no longer than 15 min and does not recur in 24 hours. The complex febrile seizure is characterized by longer duration, with recurrence or focus on only part of the body (Toovey 2008).
Paediatrics
Roy Palmer, Diana Wetherill in Medicine for Lawyers, 2020
About three in 100 children aged six months to six years will convulse during an illness with a raised body temperature. Some children have multiple febrile seizures. Certain infecting organisms are more commonly associated with the problem, there is a genetic component, and the rate of temperature change is probably a factor. In general, febrile seizures are benign and of little consequence (except in scaring parents who witness them). It is common in less busy hospitals to admit overnight a child with their first febrile seizure but not subsequently.
No association between enterovirus 71 (EV71) vaccination and risk of febrile seizures: a population-based near real-time surveillance study
Published in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2022
Yixin Sun, Liang Zhang, Ning Li, Houyu Zhao, Rui Ma, Ting Fang, Tianchi Yang, Guozhang Xu, Zhike Liu, Siyan Zhan
Febrile seizures are the most common neurologic disorder in childhood, affecting up to 5% of children under 5 years of age [34]. This study estimated a background incidence of 6.11 (95% CI: 5.90 to 6.33) per 1000 person-years in Chinese children aged 6–71 months, and the peak incidence occurred in the second year of life, which was in line with the previous literature [35,36]. The causes of FS are multifactorial with both genetic and environmental factors. Routine childhood immunizations such as measles-containing vaccines and influenza vaccines have been associated with a transient increase risk of FS during the periods of peak inflammatory response (i.e. 7–14 days for live attenuated vaccines and within 72 hours for inactivated vaccines) [28,37,38]. But the mechanism of vaccination-related seizures remains unclear. One hypothesis is that vaccination sometimes induces febrile reaction, elevated brain temperature could affect neuronal functions and cytokine and thereby trigger a seizure [39]. However, recent studies indicate that predisposing factors in the child such as genetic or structural defects may be the underlying cause of vaccination-related onset of seizure and subsequent neurologic deterioration [40]. Thus, assessing the causal link between vaccines and seizure requires great caution.
Safety considerations selecting antiseizure medications for the treatment of individuals with Dravet syndrome
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, 2021
Rima Nabbout, N Chemaly, C Chiron, M. Kuchenbuch
Dravet syndrome is the archetypical genetic rare epilepsy. Seizures occur in a previously healthy infant and can be misdiagnosed after the first event with febrile seizures. Seizures quickly invade the everyday life of the child and the family, as unpredictable and prolonged events often evolving to status epilepticus occur during infancy and early childhood. To limit adverse events and to improve long-term outcome, practitioners must have a knowledge of DS to establish early diagnosis and to shape their treatment strategy between indicated and contra-indicated medicines. Indeed, practitioners have to consider market authorization, known adverse events, galenic form, and drug–drug interactions to best fit their prescription to patient’s characteristics and to evaluate the best benefit risk. In general, except in urgent situations, introduction of ASM must be very progressive with a short- and long-term evaluation of efficacy and safety of each ASM.
Thermoregulation: From basic neuroscience to clinical neurology, part 2
Published in Temperature, 2019
Zoltán Szelényi, Sámuel Komoly
Chapter 45, written by Sebastian Pollandt and Thomas P. Bleck, explores several aspects of thermoregulation in epilepsy. It discusses the bidirectional relationship between body temperature and seizures: hyperthermia can induce epilepsy, and epileptic seizure may provoke an increase in body temperature. It is well known that hyperthermia can induce seizures in childhood. A febrile seizure during childhood is a risk factor for the development of epilepsy in adulthood. Numerous mutations in genes encoding ion channels have been identified, and cytokines (such as interleukins) have also been implicated in febrile seizures, together with an enhanced susceptibility to provoke seizures later in life [5]. The authors also present an excellent overview of thermoregulation impairments in in epileptic seizures, including both convulsive and non-convulsive status epilepticus.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Electroencephalography
- Fever
- Inflammation
- Metabolic Disorder
- Thermoregulation
- Seizure
- Generalized Tonic–Clonic Seizure
- Viral Disease
- Genetics
- Blood Test