Meningitis long-term effects on children

[marlob]

My 2 year old had bacterial meningitis and septicaemia at the beginning of the year. Fortunately because of our quick response he has no visual effects however I just know something else is wrong.

Before he got sick he was starting to talk, he was saying lots of words and now it's like he has taken a step backwards - it would now be lucky if he said 5 words, he has no concentration and although he is a lovely affectionate little boy he is just not the same as he was before he had that horrible disease!

There was an article in The Independent about a week ago that in a way confirmed what I'm saying but I was wondering if there was anyone else out there who had been though something similar?

Here is the article if you are interested - thank you

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/meningitis-effects-harming-children-8004671.html

Has his hearing been checked? Even if it was and all was well it is probably worth getting it checked again just in case as meningitis is a known high risk for hearing issues. Have you spoken to the paediatrician about a developmental review for him? If not then worth doing, or ask the GP to refer for this if he is not still under a paed, and also ask for a speech therapy referral.

Concentration issues and attention span do seem to come up as potential problems after meningitis when you read the literature. I'm sure you have already been in touch but the meningitis research organisation are fantastic for support and advice and there is a lot on their website about after effects etc too.

DD#3 had septicaemia (no meningitis) last year and thankfully seems to be progressing well in with her speech for the most part. She was a little behind anyway when she got ill but has clearly moved on since then (Just over a year ago for us) and can be a chatterbox now. We have other issues but that is another story! I hope your son is doing better in the future.

Did he have vancomycin or gentamycin antibiotics at all?

I would have thought that there would still be some follow-up at this stage, but if not I fully second the suggestion of having his hearing checked and asking for a developmental review. From what I was told at the time, hearing loss can manifest itself quite a while after the actuel illness, and it could be one possible explanation of the changes you are observing.

I can't really imagine what it is like to see the differences so clearly - my DD was only 7 weeks at the time, so we had very few developmental milestones to compare to. But for a long time we did live with the uncertainty as to how she would develop, and what or if something would be wrong with her. We did get quite a lot of follow-up, and any issues that she had resolved over a bit of time as her brain rewired itself (at least, that's how I explain it to myself). Nearly four years on she's just fine

Hope you'll be able to get some follow up action soon.. wish you all the best