COVID: Trigger a serious illness in a child identified in a small study

A small Australian study found that researchers could trigger pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) associated with COVID-19. Did.

The Peer-reviewed studiesPublished in the journal Nature Communications on Monday, we document a mechanism that appears to be activated in severely ill children with COVID-19. Researchers suggest that blood clotting and how proteins react to the virus were the major triggers for serious infections. Researchers hope that it will ultimately help in early diagnosis and professional treatment.

“Our study was the first to reveal specific blood coagulation and immune protein pathways affecting children with COVID-19 who developed severe symptoms,” said Murdoch Children’s Institute (MCRI). Co-author of Conor McCafferty, a researcher and doctoral student at the University of Melbourne, Said in a statement..

MIS-C is an inflammatory reaction in the body that can affect multiple organs such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain. Symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, dizziness and lightheadedness, red eye, and skin rash. Although rare, it can occur in school-aged children weeks after COVID-19 infection and is similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome, making rapid diagnosis difficult. MIS-C can be very serious but treatable.

ARDS, on the other hand, is a serious form of lung damage caused by the accumulation of water in the lungs, reducing blood oxygen levels in the body to dangerous levels. Although less than 2 percent of children with COVID-19 were admitted to intensive care (in a study or in Australia?), The paper states that COVID-19ARDS is one of the leading causes of these serious cases. I am.

In this study, 54 blood samples were collected. 20 from healthy children, 5 from COVID-19 ARDS patients, 29 from MIS-C patients. Since healthy control samples were taken before the pandemic, researchers were convinced that they were free of COVID-19 exposure. None of the MIS-C patients had an existing condition, but one COVID-19 ARDS patient suffered from sickle cell anemia and the other suffered from leukemia.

“A key limitation in interpreting the results of our COVID-19ARDS population is the small sample size compared to other groups. This is the rarity of COVID-19ARDS in Australian children. It reflects, “the researchers pointed out in the study.

Scientists have used discovery proteomics techniques used to collect information about all proteins in a sample. This technique means that hundreds of proteins circulating in the blood are analyzed. Eighty-five MIS-C-specific proteins and 52 COVID-19ARDS-specific proteins were found.

Researchers pointed out in the study that the findings are consistent with previous studies, but they used techniques to investigate specific proteins rather than analyzing hundreds of proteins together.

“Our research provides the basis for future research with access to a larger sample size to expand our research,” the author writes in the study.

“Our research also uses only discovery proteomics techniques to establish the basis for further research, but targeted protein analysis is needed before this research can be clinically conducted.”

The results help scientists better understand the underlying processes of severe COVID-19 in children, the researchers said.

“Understanding the mechanisms associated with severe COVID-19 in children and how the blood coagulation and immune system in children respond to the virus will help diagnose and detect acute COVID-19 cases and develop targeted therapies. “Make it possible,” said Professor Vera Ignjatovic MCRI in a statement.