Children who are stricken with severe hearing loss are five times more likely to contract meningitis, according to a new study. The study, conducted over a nine year period, monitored 663,963 children born in Denmark between 1995 and 2004. It identified 39 children with both hearing loss and meningitis; of these children, five were first diagnosed with hearing loss, and later, meningitis. Statistically, the authors determined the likelihood of a child developing meningitis after losing their hearing is five times that of other children; their research indicates that factor could in fact be as high as 12 times that of other children.
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