CRSFebrile Seizure

Explanation

No adverse outcome is the most common prognosis after a simple febrile seizure. The majority of children will only have one febrile seizure (although they may go in and out of seizures during the acute event over a matter of some hours). Some children will have recurrent seizures until the age of 6 years, by which time the vast majority of children will grow out of their febrile seizures.

Developmental delay and intellectual impairment secondary to simple febrile seizures do not occur and if there is a brain defect, it is likely that the child has an underlying disorder with seizures rather than the child being otherwise normal and having febrile seizures.

It is statistically true that there is a slight increase in the rate of epilepsy in children with febrile seizures but this is only because some children with epilepsy will have their seizures triggered by a febrile illness. However, this is a different pathological process to a simple febrile seizure in an otherwise healthy child. Therefore, in the vast majority of children who present with their first simple febrile seizure, there is no clinically significant increase in rate of epilepsy, unless there are other concerning features on history, examination or on any investigation that is performed.