Australian researchers uncover clue to rare and severe response to Covid in children

In the first few months after Covid emerged, doctors were confused by the rare and severe responses to the virus in some children.

Two years later, researchers from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne have discovered the proteins involved in the acute inflammatory responses in children.

33 children were affected by multi-system inflammatory syndrome or acute respiratory distress syndrome after they contracted Covid-19, and blood samples were taken from them.

Children with Covid-19 who develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome often suffer from a wide range of symptoms. A lack of oxygen in the blood is what causes acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The samples from the healthy children were compared with the samples from the healthy children.

McCafferty said that they were looking at all of the genes in the body. We were looking at the blood to see what was happening and map it out.

The children affected by the syndromes had something in their blood that wasn't seen in the healthy children.

McCafferty said that their research was the first to uncover the specific blood clotting and immune pathways impacted in children with Covid-19 who developed these serious symptoms. The findings were published in the journal, Nature Communications, on Monday, with researchers discovering 85 proteins specific to multisystem inflammatory syndrome and 52 linked to acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The development of targeted treatments for children with severe Covid-19 cases could be improved by knowing the specific proteins involved. Children who are affected are treated with IVIG from donated blood, which reduces their chance of developing heart issues from one-in-four to one-in-20. As they get older, children who experience changes to their heart often see the issue resolved.

Children with Covid-19 are more likely to be admitted to intensive care. Mild or no symptoms are what most children who contract Covid-19 have.

The rare syndromes are so rare in Australia that researchers were sent blood samples from children who received treatment at a hospital in France.

McCafferty said that this kind of collaboration is one of the silver linings of Covid-19.