Corona damages the blood vessels – in children! – BZ Berlin

An infection with the coronavirus can also attack the blood vessels and kidneys in children – even if the children have few or no symptoms.

This is the result of researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (USA). The doctors examined the blood of 50 children infected with Covid-19 for indicators of microthrombosis.

These can lead to clots in small blood vessels and have been linked to severe Covid-19 symptoms in adult patients.

The decisive factor here is a biomarker that is related to the damage to blood vessels. This marker shows that the so-called complement system of the immune system attacks and destroys cells in connection with an infection.

Although this system eliminates cells infected by the virus, it can also lead to inflammation and tissue damage, reports the science magazine Scinexx. So far it was only known that adults Coronavirus-Patients suffer from vascular inflammation, thrombosis and embolism – in children, however, this had not yet been investigated.

also read

► Brandenburg now has the toughest curfew in Germany

►The government promised November aid, but does not pay out the money

In the course of their study the US researchers found that these biomarkers were significantly increased in all children. Even with those who had few or no symptoms! In 48 percent of the children there was evidence of microthrombosis and acute kidney damage. “Amazingly, the sC5b9 levels were abnormal even in those children who had minimal symptoms or whose infection had been discovered asymptomatic and purely by chance,” the researchers explain.

► The short and long-term consequences of these changes and damage to the blood vessels and kidneys are still unclear.

“We know of children who develop thrombotic microangiopathies after a blood stem cell transplant that they can suffer lifelong long-term clinical sequelae, including hypertension, pulmonary hypertension, strokes and chronic kidney disease. It is therefore possible that microthromboses from a coronavirus infection also have undetected long-term consequences. “

Although most children with Covid-19 do not have severe disease progression, the study shows that there may be other effects of SARS-CoV-2 that should be investigated.

It is therefore important to also carefully examine infected children with severe courses. This is because the evidence of microthrombosis and kidney damage was significantly more common in them than in children with minor symptoms.

– .