Changes in the patient number of viral infections and febrile seizure before and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives : Febrile seizure is the most common neurological diseases in children. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients with viral infections has decreased dramatically due to social distancing and personal hygiene. Therefore, in this study, the correlation between the two diseases was investigated by confirming the change in the number of patients with febrile seizure and viral infection after COVID-19. Methods : From 2016 to 2020, we compared the number of patients under the age of five who visited Chung-Ang University hospital with febrile seizure. We analyzed the medical records of 743 patients who came to the hospital from 2016 to 2020. The number of enteroviruses and influenza viruses , acute respiratory virus infection was investigated through “disease monitoring statistics” provided by KCDC from 2016 to 2020. Results : The medical records included 743 children and 321 (43.2%) female children. The number of patients visiting with febrile seizure decreased sharply compared to the last four years (P value< 0.001). We can also see that both enterovirus, influenza, and acute respiratory viruses are decreased significantly in 2020 from four years ago. Comparing the number of patients with febrile seizure and virus infections for 60 months (2016~2020), there was a correlation. Conclusion : Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been able to confirm the decrease in the number of people infected with the virus and febrile seizure patients. Therefore we can interpret that the viral infection which cause high fever is correlated with the febrile seizure.
Keywords: febrile seizure, COVID-19 pandemic