A recent article summarized a Spanish study1 (published only on line to date) to estimate incidence and case fatality rate of patients with epilepsy and COVID-19.
It is known that patients with epilepsy are at elevated risk of respiratory diseases, especially those due to infections. This referenced investigation supports this. Spanish investigators studied 1,537 patients with COVID-19 admitted over one month in spring, 2020, including 21 with active epilepsy and 1,516 controls without active epilepsy.
A cumulative case fatality rate of 1.2 percent was found in the patients with COVID-19. The general population with COVID-19 without active epilepsy had a lower death rate due to COVID-19 of 0.5 percent. Patients with high blood pressure and with epilepsy and COVID-19 predicted even greater mortality.
We all must be attentive to safe distancing and mask-wearing at this time. My blogs #117 on April 25, 2020; #118 on May 25, 2020 and #120 on July 25, 2020 at LanceFogan.com deal with COVID-19. They discuss more helpful information on your epilepsy and staying safe during this covid-19 pandemic. Infections with COVID-19 are associated with worsening seizures in many people with epilepsy. I urge you to practice recommended safety measures to protect yourselves from COVID.
Lance Fogan, M.D. is Clinical Professor of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “DINGS” is his first novel. It is a mother’s dramatic story that teaches epilepsy, now available in eBook, audiobook and soft cover editions.
