St. Louis Encephalitis Sequelae and Accidents

During a followup study of the sequelae of St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) virus infections, accidents in general as well as the possible contribution of SLE toward accident causation were investigated. The 96 SLE survivors studied reported having frequent accidents during the acute and immediate convalescent stages of the disease. They attributed these accidents to sensorial changes and equilibratory difficulties. Psychological disturbances, however, were found to be the long-term sequelae most closely associated with reported accidents. As measured by participants' responses to the Cornell medical index health questionnaire, complaining and emotional instability were more prevalent among 41 participants reporting accidents than among 41 reporting none when age, sex, and SLE infection were the controlled variables. No significant differences were found between the accident and the nonaccident groups in performance of seven sensorimotor tests. Because of possible bias in present methods of collecting accident data and in testing procedures, new experimental design and methodology will need to be considered in future investigations of accident causation and prevention. Particular attention should be given to studies of psychosocial forces as etiological agents and of the possible preventive measures that could be used to stay detrimental psychosocial forces before they can contribute to an accident.