increased risk of contracting meningitis.

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain - caused by virus or bacteria.

The study, conducted over a nine year period, monitored 663,963 children born in Denmark between 1995 and 2004, provides evidence of an association of hearing loss and the onset of meningitis.

And as such are ample reasons for physicians and parents to be mindful of possible signs and symptoms of meningitis, and allowing for vaccination to be considered as a preventive step.

Read the full report.

[article abstract]