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Febrile seizures occur in as many as 5% of children before age 5 years, and parents often are fearful about subsequent risk for death. Danish investigators used a national registry to assess this risk in 1,675,643 children whose medical status was followed for as long as 28 years (mean, 13 years); 55,215 children had first febrile seizures between ages 3 months and 5 years.
Risk for death was significantly higher during the first 2 years after a first febrile seizure (mortality rate ratio [MRR], 1.73). However, this higher risk was attributable to subgroups of children who had underlying neurologic abnormalities; complex seizures (>15 minutes or recurrence within 24 hours; MRR, 1.99); seizures triggered by a temperature lower than 39°C (MRR,…