Motor development of children with human Parechovirus or Enterovirus infection at 24 months of follow-up

Background:

Human Parechovirus (HPeV) and Enterovirus (EV) are known causes of infection and aseptic meningitis with neurodevelopmental delay in childhood. There are few studies that have evaluated the motor development of young Caucasian children after these infections. Most recent studies in the literature involved Asian children with EV-71 infection. We tested the motor development of infected children (with and without meningitis) and uninfected Dutch children, 24 months after infection.

Methods:

In this prospective, multicenter, cohort study we tested, in a blinded fashion, the motor function level of children with EV or HPeV infection (meningitis of elsewhere) and uninfected children of same ages, with Bayley Scales of Infant Development -3 (BSID-3-USA) and Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (M-ABC-2-NL). Impaired motor development was defined as a Z-score ≤ -1. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 23.0.

Results:

Of 157 tested children, EV was detected in 89 (57%), HPeV in 25 (16%) and no pathogen in 43 (27%). Forty (25%) had impaired motor development: 17 (43%) in meningitis, 14 (35%) in infection elsewhere and 9 (23%) in uninfected groups, respectively. The difference was not significant (p=0.56). There were also no differences in the total (gross and fine) motor development in a subgroup analysis of EV or HPeV infected and uninfected children, after correcting for confounders, including as age and gender.

Conclusion:

In this study we did not find any significant differences in motor development between EV or HPeV infected and uninfected Dutch children, after 24 months of follow-up.