Dangerous PIM syndrome in children Weeks after a corona infection - researchers find the first explanation
Created: 05/03/2022, 18:08
By: Michelle Brey
After a corona infection, children can get the PIMS syndrome (symbol image).
© Jörg Carstensen/dpa
As a result of a corona infection, children can suffer from the so-called PIM syndrome.
While it's rare, researchers are now investigating the background.
Munich – The corona situation in Germany is easing noticeably.
The incidence is falling, the Robert Koch Institute responded with a new recommendation to isolate infected people.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, around 25 million people in Germany (as of May 3, 2022) have been infected with the corona virus.
Although it is a rarity, children can also become seriously ill as a result of a Covid 19 infection.
Australian scientists have investigated the background to this and published their results in the journal Nature.
Corona in children: PIM syndrome and shortness of breath as a result - structure of the study
"Children are generally less susceptible to Covid-19 and present with milder symptoms," Conor McCafferty, one of the researchers involved, told
Scitechdaily
.
However, it remained unclear what caused children to develop a very serious illness after infection, according to the scientist.
McCafferty investigated this question together with several researchers from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI).
In order to get results, they compared the blood of 20 healthy children with that of 33 children suffering from corona who, as a result of their infection, developed PIM syndrome
(Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome)
or acute respiratory distress syndrome
(ARDS = Acute Respiratory Difficulty). distress syndrome)
developed
.
Due to the small amount of data, the study cannot be described as representative.
As the scientists write, however, it could provide a basis for future studies.
PIMS and ARDS
Both syndromes are associated with corona infection in children.
Typical signs of the PIM syndrome, a postviral inflammatory syndrome, are fever lasting several days as well as diarrhea and/or skin rashes a few weeks after a Sars-CoV-2 infection.
The organs are also affected.
According to the DGPI (German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases), 840 PIMS cases have been recorded in Germany since the start of recording on April 25, 2020 (as of April 24, 2022), for example in a three-year-old from Ansbach in Bavaria.
The DGPI writes that consequential damage, especially in relation to the heart and circulation, was observed in less than ten percent.
Initially, no fatalities had been recorded.
Corona infection in children: According to the study, blood coagulation and immune proteins are decisive
In their study, the researchers found proteins in the children with one of the syndromes that the healthy children did not have: the key point of the study.
Because a total of 85 proteins were associated with the PIM syndrome and 52 with the acute respiratory distress syndrome.
As Conor McCafferty said, the main triggers for serious illness are blood clotting and the response of proteins in the immune system to the coronavirus.
The scientists' research is "the first to uncover the specific blood clotting and immune protein pathways," he told
Scitechdaily.
The new findings would help in the diagnosis and detection of acute Covid-19 cases and make it possible to develop a targeted treatment, said Vera Ignjatovic, who was also involved in the study.
Meanwhile, another study also provides the latest findings on Corona.
Accordingly, blood groups influence the risk of infection.
(mbr)
