Common infections may increase risk of stroke in children, multiple studies state.
Infections are quite common in children, but they can pose serious health risk as well sometimes, researchers say.
For the study, the researchers looked that the Vascular Effects of Infection in Pediatric Stroke (VIPS), a prospective study of 40 international centers that enroll patients under age 19 with ischemic stroke, reports MedPageToday.
They studied about 312 children with stroke and 289 controls. All were aged between 28 days and 18 years. The researchers found 6.5 times increase in risks of strokes in children who had common infection for a week, reports News Tonight Africa.
The researchers found 17 percent of pediatric patients who had an ischemic stroke reported having an infection in the previous week. They also stated that children who were not vaccinated properly had increased chances of stroke. Other infections such as chickenpox and herpes were also linked to heightened stroke risk, researchers highlighted.
"This is not something that parents need to worry about," author Nancy Hill, of the University of San Francisco, said at a press briefing, according to MedPageToday. "It's just something that could be a risk factor for children who have some other more complicating risk factor, like cardiac disease."
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), nearly five in every 100,000 children is affected with stroke in the U.S. every year. Weakness on one side of face, difficulty in speaking, vision problems, confusion, dizziness and headache are some of the symptoms of stroke.
