Common cold and flu may cause childhood stroke; vaccines could lower risk

Based on 700 children across nine countries, researchers linked having had a recent illness like bronchitis, ear infection or “strep throat” to a six-fold rise in stroke risk.

The researchers found that the risk of stroke was increased only for infections in the prior week, indicating that the effect of infection on stroke risk is short-lived. “Parents should not be alarmed if their child has a cold that it will lead to a stroke”, said Biller.

For the study, the researchers studied medical data on 355 children with a median age of 7.6 who had been diagnosed with ischemic stroke.

The findings were surprising as 18 per cent of children with stroke had an infection the week before the stroke occurred, while 3 per cent of the children who did not have a stroke had an infection the week before the interview with researchers.

“Our findings provide reassurance that vaccinations do not increase stroke risk, and may even reduce risk, “Heather Fullerton, MD, MAS, of the University of California San Francisco and colleagues reported online in Neurology“.

As the authors caution, the increased risk, while tangibly seen, should be taken in the context of how unlikely the chances of suffering a stroke is for any child.

Infection exposure and vaccine history of the children were assessed through the analysis of medical charts and parental interviews. “No matter how we cut the data… vaccines always appear to protect against childhood strokes”.

“There’s been suspicion about a link between infection and stroke for a while, moreso in adults”, she said.

Kids who were not properly vaccinated were placed at higher risk of stroke compared to those who were regularly vaccinated.

Of all participants, 18 percent of those with stroke had an infection – including flu, colds, or to a lesser extent, urinary tract or gastrointestinal infections – in the prior week. Biller and Heyer note that minor infections are common in children. “It is possible that other factors related to stroke predisposition played a role”, they wrote. “If your child is otherwise healthy, your child’s risk of having a stroke is very low”. “Conceivably, this information will be seminal in drafting further stroke prevention strategies for childhood AIS”. The team also shed light on the belief that cold medications cause strokes, claiming that the study found no evidence to support this.

Parents should be reassured to know that infection prevention measures like hand washing and vaccines can help prevent stroke as well, she said.