Covid-19 patients are at greater risk of developing seizures or epilepsy within six months of the infection compared to those who had influenza, suggests a new study published online Nov. 16 in the journal Neurology.¹

In this study, researchers from the UK and the US examined electronic health records of 81 million people with Covid-19 to explore the association between Covid-19 and epilepsy in the six months post-infection. A total of 152,754 Covid-19 patients were matched as per age, sex and medical conditions with 152,754 patients with influenza within the same time frame.

Results showed that risk of developing epilepsy or seizures was increased by 55% within the six months after the infection compared to influenza patients with hazard ratio of 1.55. The incidence rate of new onset epilepsy or seizures was 0.94% in those who had Covid-19 versus 0.60% in those who had influenza. Covid-19 patients younger than 16 years of age and who were managed as outpatients were at greater risk.

The overall risk of developing seizures or epilepsy was less than one percent in this study. However, this could translate into much bigger numbers given the huge number of Covid infections. It further highlights the risk even in patients with mild infections. And the fact that the risk was increased in younger patients, as shown in this study, underscores the need to prevent Covid-19 in this age group. The authors caution the need to especially monitor cases of mild infections “who may have more subtle features of seizures, such as focal aware seizure” in the post-infection period.

Reference

1. Taquet M, et al. Incidence of epilepsy and seizures over the first 6 months after a covid-19 diagnosis: a retrospective cohort study. Neurology, November 16, 2022, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000201595.