Background: Febrile seizures are the most common type of seizure in the first 5 years of life, and many factors that increase seizure risk have been identified. Iron deficiency anemia is preventable and treatable disease. Objectives: To study association between iron deficiency anemia and febrile seizures. Methods: A prospective case control
study was performed in 50 cases of febrile seizures and 50 controls with febrile illness without any seizures. Their temperature, age, sex were recorded and laboratory hematological parameters hemoglobin, Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) and serum ferritin values were collected and analyzed statistically with SPSS Version 20.0. Results: Hemoglobin, MCV,MCH,MCHC,RDW and serum ferritin were significantly lower in children with febrile seizures compared to the controls(p value <0.001). Iron deficiency, defined as ferritin <30ng/mL, was more prevalent in the febrile seizure group (50%) than in the control group (12%). In the study the mean age of onset of febrile seizures is 22 months. Conclusion: From the current hospital based study we have concluded that, iron deficiency anemia was more frequent among children with febrile seizures. The result suggests that iron deficiency anemia may be a risk factor for febrile seizures. Screening for IDA should be considered in children with febrile seizures. All the investigations carried out to evaluate iron deficiency anemia were significantly lower. This suggests that iron deficient children are more prone for febrile seizures.

Keywords: Anemia; Febrile seizures; Iron deficiency.