Gonzalo herman
07/21/2021 15:10
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 07/21/2021 3:10 PM
Until now, the coronavirus has not been characterized by being very aggressive towards boys.
In fact, very few cases of children dying from this disease.
However, some pediatric patients who contracted the virus had a reaction that did not appear in the same way in adults.
It is about the Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome (SIM), a condition that in some cases manifests itself through a rash.
The spots on the skin were just one of the anomalies noticed by the parents of Julieta Arias, the 8-year-old girl who died after being hospitalized for 9 days at the Evita de Lanús Hospital.
In that case, the doctor they consulted downplayed the rash and recommended that parents put an ointment on the affected area.
According to the family's account, the pediatrician did not take into account that the girl had been with coronavirus a few weeks ago.
Two weeks after that rash, Julieta presented a picture compatible with gastroenteritis with a high fever, so she was taken to the Lanús hospital.
When swabbing, the girl tested positive for covid and was diagnosed with SIM.
As the days passed, her condition worsened, she was transferred to intensive care and died on July 9.
The skin rash, which went unnoticed in this case, is one of the symptoms of SIM in the boys who had Covid.
Clarín consulted specialists to know when to be attentive to them.
Julieta Arias (8) died of a multi-system inflammatory syndrome caused by Covid on July 9.
"Skin lesions, which are rashes, can be produced by any respiratory virus in pediatrics. Within the Covid, we have seen them in children with mild symptoms," said María de los Ángeles Astbury, a pediatric infectologist.
He also said that "sometimes they can be related to inflammatory syndromes due to Covid in boys ranging from zero to 18 years old."
Astbury added that the rash is more common in older children and has to do with an inflammatory component that can cause skin rashes.
"80% are children who present this syndrome after acute Covid infection, which often goes unnoticed. Between four and six weeks after having this acute infection they may have fever, they may have rashes, abdominal pain and diarrhea," he said. .
The infectologist explained that the way to diagnose it is by laboratory.
"This is an indication for hospitalization and we gave him corticosteroids and gamma globulin. And the severity of the patient depends on this. A baby in an inpatient ward is not the same as one entering intensive care."
Astbury assured that at the Rosario Hospital, where she works, the boys respond very well to this treatment and that they have not had deaths from this inflammatory syndrome.
And he clarified that
the rash is not a predictor
that this child could do badly with the disease.
For his part, the infectologist Eduardo López, from the Ricardo Gutiérrez Children's Hospital, said that "the vast majority (of the boys with Covid) have a respiratory picture and, to a lesser extent, an intestinal picture."
And that in general with "benign pictures".
According to López, "there are very few" boys who develop multisystemic inflammation syndrome, which sometimes manifests itself with skin rashes.
And he recommended being vigilant if the boys manifest, at the same time,
"persistent fever, cough, conjunctivitis, rash and severe abdominal pain."
López pointed out that, at times, the diagnosis is not made adequately and there were patients who progressed to more serious conditions.
Although he clarified that these complications are very rare.
What is Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome?
The
Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome (SIM)
is a condition that was seen in Europe and the United States at the beginning of the pandemic and that had a slight correlation in Argentina. It is an excessive reaction of the immune system (treatable, with positive results) that appears in some boys as
a late effect
(after even having a negative PCR) of coronavirus.
The incidence is low:
according to the prestigious journal
Nature
, it affects around 1 in 1,000 children ("and possibly less", they clarify).
Already in August, Clarín reported that it is a picture similar to the well-known Kawasaki syndrome and that, as it is easily confused with other viruses, it is advisable to consult the pediatrician quickly if any of these signs appear: fever sustained for three days, non-purulent conjunctivitis - type 'dry eye'-, rashes or spots on the skin and edema in the hands and feet.
Disorders caused by Kawasaki syndrome, the inflammatory disease that affects children.
Ángela Gentile, head of Epidemiology at the “Ricardo Gutiérrez” Children's Hospital, told Clarín in September: “these syndromes are easily confused with other viruses, so it is key that parents know the information, do not let themselves be there and consult immediately so that the little one receives the best possible care ”.
The specialists assure that many of the patients - most of them 5 to 10 years old - have a post-infectious picture, such as a late effect of the coronavirus that “appears 6 to 8 weeks after the acute illness due to SARS-Cov2.
For his part, Eduardo López explained that it has to do with Kawasaki syndrome since it is a very similar reaction, especially due to prolonged fever and changes in the skin, mucous membranes and the size of the lymph nodes, in terms of the clinical manifestations, in addition to others that are seen by laboratory.
As for the spots on the skin, specialists indicate that they are like the welts that appear in the rash and that can appear on the hands, necks, arms and even on the chest.
MG
Look also
Boys and Covid: the answers to 5 key questions
Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome: the unusual condition that affects boys who have or had coronavirus
An 8-year-old girl died of Covid after 9 days in hospital: her parents ask for vaccination for the boys
