WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

*Isam Nazar Mohammed Al-Shammaa, Ban Ghazi Dhanoon and Nashwan Nadhim Jaro

ABSTRACT

Background: Children between the ages of six months and five years old are commonly affected by febrile seizures which is the most prevalent kind of seizure among this age group. Dealing with children who have febrile seizures at the emergency department raises the following challenges: considering whether the fever is caused by an acute symptomatic disease like bacterial meningitis or encephalitis/encephalopathy, if the seizure is the first triggered seizure of epilepsy, or if it may progress to epilepsy later, and if there is a possibility of recurrent seizure during the febrile illness. Objectives: To assess the clinical characteristics of febrile seizure among less than five years in Mosul province-Iraq. Methods: A case series study was carried out at Ibn Al Atheer Teaching Hospitals in Mosul, Iraq, from March 2024 until the end of March 2025. The study included seventy-two children aged eighth mouths to five years with convulsion that were suggested to be febrile in nature depending on the following criteria; their ages were between six months-five years, the presence of high fever (more than 39°C) and absence of signs of central nervous system (CNS) infection by a normal CSF finding. The questionnaire includes three parts; part one for socio-demographic information. Part two for details of seizure. Part three for associated clinical presentation. Results: Among 72 patients enrolled in the study, 41 (56.6%) subjects were male and 31 (43.1%) subjects were females with male to female ratio of 1.32:1. Statistically significant difference (P-Value = 0.021) was found regarding the patients’ residency with more patient reside in urban area. Thirty-four (47.2%) subjects in this study, were aged between 12-24 months, followed by 27 (38.8%) subjects were aged between 24-60 months and lastly; 11 (14%) subjects were aged less than 12 months. Statistically significant differences regarding seizure duration, type of seizure and family history of febrile seizure (P-Value <0.001) of all of them. Lastly; the most frequent underlying cause for febrile seizure is upper respiratory tract infection followed by pneumonia and gastroenteritis. Conclusion: Febrile seizure is a frequent problem in Mosul city. It's more frequently found among children with age group 1-2years. There was no sex difference and most of febrile seizure is simple type. Positive family history of febrile seizure is found to have a significant role in the possibility of occurrence of febrile seizure.