Unexplained increase in rare brain infection in children being investigated by CDC

A jump in the number of rare brain infections tripled in children in Nevada last year, causing concern among physicians and prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to open an investigation into the possible cause.

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Dr. Taryn Bragg from the University of Utah, who has been treating many of the patients seen in Nevada, told CNN, “In my 20 years’ experience, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

In a usual year in Nevada, there are five children diagnosed with a brain abscess. In 2022 there were 18.

The findings were released at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference and first reported by CNN.

An abscess, or a pocket of puss, is formed by the body to stop the spread of infection. While brain abscesses are rare, they generally form when fungi or bacteria enter brain tissue. The cause is usually an injury or infection.

Dr. Jessica Penney, the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer assigned to the Southern Nevada Health District, said none of the 18 infected children had experienced previous brain surgery or trauma.

“These are healthy children. With no prior significant medical history that would make them more prone … there wasn’t any known immunosuppression or anything like that,” Bragg told CNN.

Fourteen of the patients required surgery to drain the brain mass, 76% of patients were diagnosed with sinusitis – a sinus infection -- and 26% were diagnosed with mastoiditis – an infection that affects the mastoid bone, located behind the ear. Mastoiditis is often caused by a middle ear infection.

According to the Southern Nevada Health District, the median age of patients with brain abscesses was 12, and 76% of them were male.

The increase in cases of brain abscesses is being seen in hospitals across the country, according to Dr. Shaun Rodgers, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York.

Rodgers told NBC that his hospital is still seeing an above-average number of brain abscesses, a trend that started around 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.”

Researchers say they do not yet know what would account for the increase in cases.

According to Penney, the pandemic may be one reason for the increase in cases since children were not exposed to viruses as much and were not building up immunity to them.

“So, the thoughts are, you know, maybe in that period where kids didn’t have these exposures, you’re not building the immunity that you would typically get previously, you know with these viral infections,” Penney said. “And so maybe on the other end when we you had these exposures without that immunity from the years prior, we saw a higher number of infections.”

The symptoms of a brain abscess may develop quickly or slowly, according to the Johns Hopkins University, but can include:

• Headaches
• Fevers and chills
• Going in and out of consciousness
• Visual disturbances
• Weakness on one side of your body
• Nausea and vomiting
• Seizures
• Changes in personality
• Confusion
• Trouble moving or speaking
• Stiffness in the neck or back