Multisystem inflammatory syndrome appears more common in kids of African ancestry: Study

A serious multisystem inflammatory syndrome that might be linked to the new coronavirus appeared to affect an “unusually high proportion” of children of African ancestry, according to a small study from a Paris hospital.

Out of 21 children and adolescents who were admitted to the hospital with the inflammatory syndrome, 12 patients (57%) were of African ancestry, says the study, published Wednesday in the BMJ. The patients ranged from 3 to 16 years of age, with an average age of 7 years.

The disease has similar symptoms of toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, a rare illness of unknown origin that causes blood vessels to become inflamed. It can cause persistent fever, abdominal symptoms, rash and cardiovascular symptoms, as well as heart-related or blood vessel-related shock requiring intensive care.

Health experts have said that the inflammatory syndrome could be an “antibody mediated or delayed response” to COVID-19 that shows up several weeks after infection, the Science Daily reported.

Cases of the pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome have also been seen in Italy, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

All 21 patients in the study had noticeable gastrointestinal symptoms in the early stages of illness and “high levels of inflammatory markers,” the researchers noted. Twelve patients (57%) exhibited symptoms of Kawasaki disease shock syndrome, and 16 (76%) of them experienced heart inflammation. Seventeen (81%) of the patients required intensive care support.

Nineteen children and adolescents (90%) in the study had evidence of a recent SARS-CoV-2 infection, the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

All of the patients were discharged home after an average of eight days spent at the hospital.