The coronavirus pandemic has been tied to an increased incidence of an inflammatory syndrome among children in Italy in a new study, and the researchers warn that similar outbreaks of this rare but serious illness can be expected in other nations.
The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet on Wednesday, found cases of the syndrome appeared to increase 30-fold in the Bergamo province of Italy shortly after the coronavirus pandemic spread to the region.
The syndrome, now frequently referred to as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, resembles another childhood condition known as Kawasaki disease.
Dr. Lucio Verdoni of the Hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII in Bergamo and colleagues studied the cases of children diagnosed with Kawasaki disease at the hospital between January 1, 2015 and April 20, 2020.
The patients were divided into two groups: one group represented those diagnosed in the five years preceding the coronavirus pandemic and the second group represented those diagnosed after Covid-19 hit the region.
The data showed that the incidence rate of Kawasaki disease diagnoses was about 0.3 per month before the coronavirus pandemic, and then 10 per month afterwards between March and April of this year -- a very large increase.
"Outbreaks of Kawasaki-like disease might occur in countries affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and might present outside the classic Kawasaki disease phenotype," the researchers wrote in the study.
"This condition might be serious and requires prompt and more aggressive management," they added. "Future research on the cause of Kawasaki disease and similar syndromes should focus on immune responses to viral triggers."
Kawasaki disease involves inflammation in the walls of medium-sized arteries and can damage the heart. The new syndrome also involves inflammation, but infectious disease experts say it is different from Kawasaki disease. Symptoms include persistent fever, inflammation and poor function in one or more organs.
Dr. Jeffrey Burns of Boston Children’s Hospital and other experts told CNN Wednesday that the condition appears to be a post-viral syndrome that may develop several weeks after a Covid-19 infection.