Doctors concerned over spiking brain infections in kids

A mysterious spike in potentially fatal brain infections in children has doctors in southern Nevada on high alert.

Researchers at the Southern Nevada Health District said there were 18 cases last year of pediatric brain abscesses — pockets in the brain that fill with pus which can be deadly if untreated — compared to an average of five cases per year reported between 2015 and 2021.

The abscesses are rare and generally form to stop a bacterial or fungal infection from spreading.

The data was released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference.

The CDC reported cases began to increase nationally in the summer of 2021 and peaked in March 2022.

However, the CDC said that the rate of infections returned to baseline levels following from March to May 2022 and the increase noted was “consistent with historical seasonal fluctuations observed since 2016.”

Dr. Taryn Bragg, an associate professor at the University of Utah who treats pediatric brain abscess cases in Nevada cases, told NBC that she was swamped with calls to treat the infection last spring.

“Every single call I was getting from the ER was a kid coming in with a brain abscess,” Bragg said.

Bragg added that cases have fallen in recent months after she treated two patients for brain infections at the start of the year.

Cases are not just occurring at higher rates in Nevada, New York is also reportedly seeing more children with brain abscesses.

Dr. Shaun Rodgers, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens, said that his hospital has also been seeing an increase in cases since the end of 2022.

“It’s not just us. It’s hospitals all over the country,” Rodgers said. “When we’re talking to colleagues, it seems like everyone is feeling that we’ve definitely had an uptick in these types of infections.”

The most common cause behind the infections is bacteria, although fungi and viruses can also cause abscess-forming infections, which spread from other parts of the body, including the eyes, ears, or teeth, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Those with congenital heart disease, head injuries, dental infections, or chronic sinus infections are particularly at risk and symptoms can include changes in behavior, severe headache, and fever.

Meanwhile, some reports link the increase in infections to Covid-19, including another CDC study that identified an approximately 100% increase during the first two years of the pandemic.

One hospital, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, even saw a 236% increase in bacterial brain infections during that time.

“We were wondering if the virus itself was causing some sort of inflammatory process that was allowing these bacteria to invade,” Dr. Rosemary Olivero, the hospital’s division chief of medical subspecialties, told NBC “That has not been a question that we’ve been able to answer yet.”

Olivero said that cases have since returned to normal levels.