Symptoms, mortality rate … Reported for the first time at the end of April in the United Kingdom, multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), the new disease linked to Covid-19 which affects children, is gradually revealing its secrets.
a very rare disease
The American authorities had already indicated in mid-May that MIS-C is a rare condition. This is confirmed by two American studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), with 2 cases per 100,000 people under the age of 21. In addition, black, Hispanic or Indian children are relatively more affected than white children.
A thousand cases have been reported worldwide including these new studies, said Michael Levin of Imperial College London in the American medical journal. In Europe, as of May 15, 230 cases had been identified by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
it occurs a few weeks after infection
The disease then appears, several weeks after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which also validates the latest research. A national study suggests 25 days of median duration, while the other, in New York, indicates that the majority of cases occurred one month after the peak of the pandemic in the city.
The mystery remains, however, about the cause of MIS-C, which is believed to be linked to an abnormal immune system response. Clarifying it could have implications for vaccine development, according to Michael Levin.
gastrointestinal disorders and the cardiovascular system affected
The most common symptom of the disease is not respiratory: more than 80% of children actually suffered from gastrointestinal disturbances (abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea) and many had rashes, especially those under five. years. In 80% of them, the cardiovascular system was more concerned.
In addition, all of them had fever, very often for more than four or five days. In contrast, 8 to 9% of children developed an aneurysm of the coronary arteries.
mis-c can be deadly
During the first alerts, doctors noted many similarities with Kawasaki disease, which mainly affects infants and very young children and creates inflammation of the blood vessels that can cause heart problems. New data confirms that MIS-C and Kawasaki have some things in common. However, multisystem inflammatory syndrome usually affects older children, and triggers more intense inflammation.
In American studies, 80% were admitted to intensive care, 20% received invasive respiratory assistance and 2% died, including two children in France and the United Kingdom. To know that most of the children were previously in good health and had no risk factor or pre-existing disease.
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