Covid, what the study on multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children says
Children with Covid-19 generally have milder symptoms than adults, however, multisystem inflammatory syndrome has occurred in some cases. Now an Australian study has identified the mechanisms. All the details
A study conducted by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and the University of Melbourne discovered pathological mechanisms in children with Covid-19 who have multisystem inflammatory syndrome or acute respiratory distress.
WHAT ARE MULTISYSTEM AND RESPIRATORY DISTRESS INFLAMMATORY SYNDROME
In multisystem inflammatory syndrome, different parts of the body can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, brain, while acute respiratory distress syndrome is a type of lung disease.
Both syndromes are the main potential outcomes of severe Covid-19 in children.
In the Italian case series, writes Repubblica , no deaths were recorded, but a small percentage of patients had distant cardiological outcomes.
THE DISCOVERY
Conor McCafferty, MCRI researcher and PhD student at the University of Melbourne, said the main triggers for severe Covid-19 in children were blood clotting and how immune system proteins reacted to the virus.
"In general, children are less susceptible to Covid-19 and have milder symptoms, but the factors that in some can lead to the development of very serious diseases are not clear – said McCafferty – Our research was the first to discover the specific pathways of blood clotting and immune proteins that have impacted children with Covid-19 who have developed severe symptoms ”.
The team therefore identified the pathways of blood clotting and immune proteins that are activated in severe cases of Covid-19 in children, thus favoring earlier diagnoses and more targeted treatments.
"Knowing the mechanisms associated with severe Covid-19 in children, and knowing how the blood clotting and the immune system of the little ones react to the Sars-CoV-2 virus – said Vera Ignjatovic, professor of MCRI – will help to recognize acute cases. of Covid-19 and will allow us to develop a targeted treatment ".
I STUDY
For the study, published in Nature Communications , blood samples were collected from 20 healthy children at the Royal Children's Hospital and other samples from 33 Sars-CoV-2 infected children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome or acute respiratory distress syndrome at the Necker-Enfants Malades hospital in Paris.
THE RESULTS
By comparing the blood samples, the researchers were able to detect that the specific proteins of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome were 85 and those of the acute respiratory distress syndrome 52.
The study then revealed that for 1.7% of hospitalized pediatric Covid-19 patients, it was necessary to resort to intensive care.
Children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome exhibited clinical features similar to Kawasaki disease, a syndrome – the cause of which is unknown – that causes generalized inflammation of the blood vessels.
THE THERAPY
To heal the multisystem inflammatory syndrome "it usually takes 10 days", explained to Repubblica Gian Luigi Marseglia, head of pediatrics at the San Matteo hospital in Pavia, who added that "however, for some children it is so serious that it requires hospitalization in intensive care, especially to ensure cardio-circulatory functionality through 24-hour monitoring ".
Steroids and immunoglobulins in high doses are administered for therapy because, as Marseglia said, "immunoglobulins have an immunomodulating effect which, associated with the immunosuppressive effect of cortisone, allows it to be cured in all cases".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/covid-studio-sindrome-infiammatoria-multisistemica-bambini/ on Mon, 09 May 2022 05:03:13 +0000.