Scientists discover mechanisms that lead to severe COVID in children

Researchers have discovered the pathways that are activated in severe cases of COVID-19 in children. This information can lead to earlier diagnosis and more targeted treatments for the disease.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, identified disease mechanisms in children with COVID-19. These mechanisms present themselves with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs and brain, and acute respiratory distress syndrome, a type of lung disease.

Blood clotting one major trigger

The main triggers for severe COVID-19 in children were blood clotting and how proteins in the immune system reacted to the virus, the researchers said. “Children are in general less susceptible to COVID-19 and present with milder symptoms, but it remained unclear what caused some to develop very severe disease,” said Conor McCafferty, PhD student at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

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“Our research was the first to uncover the specific blood clotting and immune protein pathways impacted in children with COVID-19 who developed serious symptoms,” McCafferty said in a statement. For the study, blood samples from 20 healthy children were collected and samples from 33 SARS-CoV-2 infected children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome or acute respiratory distress syndrome were collected.

Professor Damien Bonnet, from the Greater Paris University Hospitals, France, said collecting samples to further describe the mechanisms of these syndromes and establishing worldwide collaborations were considered key issues to improve treatment and outcomes. The research found 85 and 52 proteins were specific to multisystem inflammatory syndrome and acute respiratory distress syndrome, respectively. Both syndromes are major potential outcomes of severe COVID-19.

Varied symptoms delay detection

Children with COVID-19 who have multisystem inflammatory syndrome also show similar clinical features to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome such as fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, skin rash and conjunctivitis, making it difficult to quickly diagnose patients, they said.

“Knowing the mechanisms associated with severe COVID-19 in children and how the blood clotting and immune systems in children react to the virus will help diagnose and detect acute COVID-19 cases and allow us to develop targeted treatment,” Professor Vera Ignjatovic from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia said.

Also read: COVID infections among children are mild, no need to worry about it: Experts