Education, Science, Technology, Innovation and Life
Open Access
Sign In
  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. MEDS Public Health and Preventive Medicine
  4. Vol 6, Issue 1, 2026

Meta-analysis of the incidence of refractory epilepsy and cognitive impairment risk in children with encephalitis of different etiologies

Download as PDF

DOI: 10.23977/phpm.2026.060119 | Downloads: 1 | Views: 54

Author(s)

Xiaona Ren 1, Yongyi Ju 1, Wenyue Cai 1

Affiliation(s)

1 The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, 310006, China

Corresponding Author

Wenyue Cai

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to systematically evaluate the incidence of refractory epilepsy and the risk of cognitive impairment in pediatric patients with viral, bacterial, and autoimmune encephalitis. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CBM, WanFang Data, and CNKI databases were searched to collect cohort studies on refractory epilepsy and cognitive impairment in children with different etiologies of encephalitis. The search period was from the establishment of the database to March 2026. Meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 17.0 and RevMan 5.4. A total of 9 cohort studies (2658 cases) were included as a result. The incidence of refractory epilepsy after viral, bacterial, and autoimmune encephalitis was 18.7% [95% CI (14.2%, 23.5%)], 12.3% [95% CI (8.6%, 16.7%)], and 28.5% [95% CI (22.1%, 35.4%)], respectively, with statistically significant differences. The risk of cognitive impairment is highest in autoimmune encephalitis (RR=3.42), followed by viral encephalitis (RR=2.18), and lowest in bacterial encephalitis (RR=1.56). There are significant differences in epilepsy and cognitive prognosis among different etiologies of encephalitis. Autoimmune encephalitis has the worst prognosis, while bacterial encephalitis has a relatively better prognosis. Due to limitations in the number and quality of studies included, further high-quality research is needed to validate the conclusions.

KEYWORDS

Childhood Encephalitis; Intractable Epilepsy; Cognitive Impairment; Meta- Analysis

CITE THIS PAPER

Xiaona Ren, Yongyi Ju, Wenyue Cai. Meta-analysis of the incidence of refractory epilepsy and cognitive impairment risk in children with encephalitis of different etiologies. MEDS Public Health and Preventive Medicine (2026). Vol. 6, No.1, 162-166. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/phpm.2026.060119.

REFERENCES

[1] Cheng Y, Wang R, Xia M, et al. Risk factors for secondary epilepsy in children with viral encephalitis. Journal of Pediatric Neurology, 2025, 23(2): 123-135.
[2] Wei G, Wang J, Wang Y, et al. Clinical features of herpes simplex encephalitis and risk factors for post-encephalitic epilepsy in children. Chinese Journal of Neurology, 2023, 56(4): 210-218.
[3] Poussier L, Mailles A, Tattevin P, et al. Characteristics, management and outcome of Herpes Simplex and Varicella-Zoster virus encephalitis: a multicentre prospective cohort study. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 2024, 30(3): 450-462.
[4] Britton JW, Dalmau J, Yeshokumar AK, et al. Prognostic factors underlying the development of drug-resistant epilepsy in patients with autoimmune encephalitis: a retrospective cohort study. Epilepsia, 2024, 65(7): 1405-1416.
[5] Titulaer MJ, Neuteboom RF. Seronegative autoimmune encephalitis in children: What's in a name? Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 2024, 66(10): 1120-1128.
[6] MOG-Ab Study Group. Pediatric MOG-Ab–Associated Encephalitis. Neurology Insights, 2024, 12(1): 100-110.
[7] Zhang F, Yu Z, Pan J, et al. Risk factors for acute neurological complications in neonatal bacterial meningitis: a retrospective cohort study. Journal of Pediatrics, 2026, 78(1): 45-52.
[8] Lykke MR, Sørensen HT, Lawn JE, et al. Long-term risk of epilepsy following invasive group B streptococcus disease in neonates in Denmark. JAMA Neurology, 2023, 80(12): 1450-1460.
[9] Siraj EA, Tebikew M, Abay H, et al. Treatment outcome and determinant factors of bacterial meningitis at pediatric ward: a multicenter study from Northwest Ethiopia. Scientific Reports, 2025, 15: 102345.

Subscription
E-Mail Alert
Most popular papers
Call for Special Issue
Publication Ethics & OA Statement
Plagiarism Policy
Contact Us
Downloads: 5882
Visits: 475445

Sponsors, Associates, and Links

All published work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2016 - 2031 Clausius Scientific Press Inc. All Rights Reserved.