The Immunology of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children with COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is typically very mild and often asymptomatic in children. A complication is the rare multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19, presenting 4-6 weeks after infection as high fever, organ dysfunction, and strongly elevated markers of inflammation. The pathogenesis is unclear but has overlapping features with Kawasaki disease suggestive of vasculitis and a likely autoimmune etiology. We apply systems-level analyses of blood immune cells, cytokines, and autoantibodies in healthy children, children with Kawasaki disease enrolled prior to COVID-19, children infected with SARS-CoV-2, and children presenting…

• SA
  Stichting af Jochnick Foundation
• KI
  Karolinska Institutet
• KO
  Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse
• SF
  Science for Life Laboratory