New childhood disease: MIS-C occurs after corona infection

In several European countries, unusually serious illnesses have been found in children, including in Germany. In some cases the coronavirus has been detected. However, the numbers are very low. The children show symptoms similar to “Kawasaki syndrome”. These include inflamed blood vessels, fever and rash.

But it is still unclear whether there is a connection with a coronavirus infection, said Reinhard Berner from the University Hospital Dresden German press agency. “It is quite conceivable,” he added. Infection with the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus can trigger the lung disease Covid-19.

Update from July 2nd, 2020: US studies found connection between childhood disease and corona infection

American researchers have looked at the novel disease associated with coronavirus infections. It refers to MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children).

In the professional world, the disease is sometimes called PIMS (Paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome) oder PMIS (Paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome) bezeichnet.

In two studies that took place on Monday (June 29, 2020) in New England Journal of Medicine were published, dhe scientists have the medical records of almost 300 Children and young people under the age of 21 evaluated between March and May in the United States. What they have in common: they all had an infection with the corona virus or at least there was an urgent suspicion of infection.

MIS-C (PIMS / PMIS): These are the symptoms of the new childhood illness

The results of the study at a glance:

• The syndrome only occurs a few weeks after a coronavirus infection on: In one study there were 25 days between the onset of the disease and the pandemic peak, in the other over a month.
• Most common symptoms are Gastrointestinal complaints such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting and diarrhea. 80 percent of MIS-C patients suffered from this.
• All patients had fever, often for more than four or five days.
• 80 percent of those affected kicked Cardiovascular problems , eight to nine percent of the children developed an aneurysm on the arteries of the heart, i.e. a potentially dangerous enlargement of the arteries.
• In 80 percent of the cases examined, treatment was carried out in the intensive care unit, 20 percent of the patients were ventilated. The Death rate was two percent.
• Black children and children with Hispanic or Indian roots were affected more often than white children.

According to Express be wAround 1000 cases of the syndrome have been registered worldwide, as Michael Levin from London’s Imperial College wrote in a commentary on the US studies. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has until May 15th 230 Flle in Europe reported. One child in France and one in Great Britain was accordingly on MIS-C died.

The UK warned of the Sars-CoV-2 syndrome in children in late April, and the CDC, the US health agency, also followed the warning in May Express. The new US studies confirmed that there are similarities between MIS-C and Kawasaki. However, older children usually suffered from MIS-C and the inflammatory reactions were more severe. The cause of MIS-C is still not fully understood. It is believed that the immune system is overreacting.

Update from May 29th, 2020: New childhood illness discovered in Germany

Now, in addition to the “Kawasaki syndrome”, another disease has been discovered: In a children’s hospital in Lower Saxony, several cases of an autoimmune disease have been detected for the first time since mid-April. The so-called “Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome (PIMS)” shows symptoms similar to the “Kawasaki syndrome”, for example high fever or rash. The reports Daily mirror.

So far there have been four confirmed cases of the “PIMS” disease in Germany. The children were between three months and 13 years old. The treatment was largely problem-free, so that none of the children had to stay in hospital for more than twelve days. Especially interesting: Antibodies to the coronavirus were found in all four children.

It is not yet clear whether there is a direct connection to the corona virus. By mid-May, 230 children worldwide had contracted the autoimmune disease. Some of them tested positive for the pathogen of the Sars-CoV-2.

Immune response to coronavirus infection?

In the Geneva University Clinic, three children have been treated with such severe inflammation since the onset of the corona epidemic. A spokeswoman said on Thursday that a child had recovered and was released, one was in normal and one in intensive care. She couldn’t tell the age of the children.

According to the Swiss Corona representative Daniel Koch, it is probably an immune reaction to an infection with the corona virus. “The virus triggers an inflammation storm, an overreaction of the immune system,” said the Geneva cantonal doctor Jacques-Andr Romand.

Cases have also been reported from Italy and Spain. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) has alerted hospitals to around two dozen seriously ill children. Many, but not all, had been tested positive for the new Sars-CoV-2 virus. The Society for Intensive Care of Minors (PICS) advises physicians to pay particular attention to symptoms in children that would give rise to toxic shock.

Some children develop serious illnesses

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already addressed the issue, as Covid 19 Commissioner Maria van Kerkhove said on Wednesday evening. “We know that children tend to have less severe illnesses, but some develop serious illnesses and some die,” she said. “We have called on our global medical network to be vigilant.”

WHO emergency coordinator Michael Ryan added: “This shows that the virus attacks not only the lungs but also other tissues.” However, Ryan reassured worried parents: “The vast majority of children who contract the virus have a mild infection and recover completely.”

The president of the professional association of pediatricians (BVKJ), Thomas Fischbach, also warned of panic. “There is no evidence of a connection between Covid-19 and Kawasaki syndrome,” he told the Neue Osnabrcker Zeitung. Kawasaki syndrome has been around for a long time and is very rare. An increase in the disease since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic was not to be seen.

So far, no connection between Kawasaki and the corona virus has been detected

“The reports from other countries of children with a Kawasaki syndrome-like course only show a severe inflammation that cannot be explained by the coronavirus alone. It is often called a so-called incomplete Kawasaki syndrome,” explains Andr Jakob, head of the pediatric cardiology clinic at Dr. from Haunersche Children’s Hospital in Munich to the Bavarian Radio (BR).
The normal case is that children who develop Covid-19 have hardly any symptoms.

Doctors still do not know what triggers Kawasaki syndrome. It mainly affects young children.

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