Will SARS-CoV-2 variants impact the severity of MIS-C?
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SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to emerge. One variant, B.1.1.7, was predicted to become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 virus in the United States by March.
The emergence of variants has raised questions about the trajectory of the pandemic, including whether vaccine efficacy will be impacted. We asked Tina Q. Tan, MD, professor of pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a pediatric infectious disease physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, if SARS-CoV-2 variants could affect the severity of MIS-C.
The short answer is that we do not know. I think it would be interesting if there was a way to go back and look at children who had MIS-C, who were diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier, and see whether some of those infections were caused by these variants.
From what we are seeing now, it seems like there are more cases of MIS-C. Whether that is because it is being recognized more commonly or there is actually an increase in the number of cases, I do not think anybody knows.
I think it is a little bit too early to tell whether or not MIS-C cases caused by variants are different, and whether one variant causes more severe disease than others, given that this appears to be a postinfectious inflammatory syndrome, meaning that the individual does not have acute COVID-19 but has developed inflammation 2 to 6 weeks after having an acute COVID-19 infection.
Click here to read the Cover Story, "SARS-CoV-2 triggers similar inflammatory syndromes in children and adults."
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