Dr Leo Odudu, Medical Director, Emel Hospital, Festac, Lagos, has urged parents to seek prompt medical care for children with seizures, describing the condition as treatable and not a spiritual attack.
Odudu stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday.
He said that seizures result from abnormal electrical activity in the brain and could manifest as jerky or stretching movements, behavioural and mood changes, repetitive behaviours, fainting spells or loss of consciousness.
He explained that a seizure was a single event that might occur once in an individual’s lifetime, while epilepsy referred to a condition characterised by recurrent seizures over time.
According to him, available literature estimates that about two to three percent of children experience seizures.
Odudu said the causes of seizures in infants and children varied widely and could arise from factors relating to the mother, pregnancy, delivery or the baby.
He listed perinatal asphyxia, hypoglycaemia, neonatal sepsis, neonatal meningitis, birth trauma, electrolyte imbalance, severe neonatal jaundice, maternal medications, congenital defects, extreme low birth weight and inborn errors of metabolism as causes in newborns.
The paediatrician said older children could develop seizures from meningitis, severe sepsis, electrolyte imbalance, severe malaria and head injury.
He identified febrile convulsion as one of the commonest childhood seizures, noting that it affects about 10 to 18 percent of Nigerian children between three months and five years.
According to Odudu, febrile seizures usually resolve once the underlying cause of the fever is treated.
He stressed that a mother’s wellbeing during pregnancy was crucial to the baby’s health and could influence the risk of seizures after birth.
Odudu said maternal infections, including those associated with TORSHES syndrome, maternal medications, alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, smoking and delivery complications could predispose a child to seizures.
TORSHES syndrome is acronym for toxoplamosis, rubella, herpex, syphylis cytomegalovirus.
He added that hormonal disorders, including hypo- and hyperthyroidism, hypertension resulting in severe pre-eclampsia and diabetes, could also increase seizure risk in newborns.
According to him, harmful substances consumed during pregnancy cross the placenta, alter the baby’s brain metabolism and may cause withdrawal symptoms after birth.
Odudu identified prolonged labour, birth asphyxia and extreme prematurity as leading causes of seizures during the newborn period.
He added that birth trauma from instrumental deliveries and delayed labour resulting from poor obstetric care also contributed to seizures.
The medical director said some genetic defects and chromosomal abnormalities predisposed children to seizures.
He added that febrile seizures commonly ran in families, noting that where a child convulsed during fever, there was more than a 50 per cent chance that either parent had experienced febrile seizures in childhood.
Odudu said seizure manifestations differed across age groups and could be difficult to recognise during the first three months of life.
He said repeated blinking, lip smacking, eye rolling and jerking of a single limb were possible signs in infants.
According to him, older children commonly present with jerking of one or both limbs, teeth clenching, staring into space and failure to respond to calls.
Odudu advised parents to remain calm during a seizure, remove nearby dangers, clear the child’s airway and place the child on the side to prevent choking.
He recommended tepid sponging with lukewarm water and rectal paracetamol, where available, for children with febrile seizures.
“But on no account should anything be given through the mouth during a seizure,” he warned.
Odudu also discouraged harmful practices such as putting onion juice into the eyes, administering local pomades or concoctions, giving cow or human urine to drink, or placing a child’s feet in fire.
He said children should be taken to hospital immediately after a seizure for proper evaluation and treatment.
According to him, diagnosis is usually based on the pattern of abnormal movements, while investigations may include electroencephalogram (EEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), blood tests and lumbar puncture where necessary.
Odudu said seizures caused by fever, electrolyte imbalance or low blood sugar usually stopped once the underlying condition was corrected.
He explained that some children, depending on the cause, might require anti-seizure medications for prolonged periods, while severe congenital defects could result in lifelong seizures.
