A rare syndrome that has already affected 197 post-Covid children and young people in Brazil can cause fever and 8 more symptoms | Coronavirus

Pediatric Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome (SIM-P) can develop in people from 0 to 19 years old who have previously had Covid-19 and who are already cured of the disease. “It is noteworthy that these occurrences have been rare so far, given the large number of cases with a good evolution of the disease among children and adolescents,” said the Ministry of Health.

“These cases began to be reported in Europe, in the United States and later here in Brazil. They were classified as post-Covid inflammatory syndrome,” explains Renato Kfouri, an infectologist and pediatrician, member of the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP).

Most of the cases (38%) correspond to children from 0 to 4 years old. There are 75 records of the syndrome in this age group. Next, there is the age group 5 to 9 years, with 65 cases; from 10 to 14, with 49; and from 15 to 19, with 8 cases.

The first criterion to evaluate this syndrome is that the patient has previously had Covid-19. Symptoms include:

• fever
• conjunctivitis
• red spots on the body
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• abdominal pain
• throwing up
• swelling in the joints
• cough
• lack of ar

“These are symptoms very similar to those of Kawasaki syndrome, which also affects children and young people. But it is a new syndrome, and no one yet knows why some children have this after Covid-19 and others do not,” he says. the infectologist Kfouri.

This was the case of João Vitor, 6 years old. He had a fever for five days, severe abdominal pain, and spots on his body. The boy’s family took him to four different doctors until he was able to receive a diagnosis. “One of them even said it was a psychological pain,” says Fernanda Janneo, her aunt.

Four days after the onset of symptoms, when conjunctivitis appeared, doctors were able to make the diagnosis. João Vitor has been hospitalized since September 5 at the USP University Hospital. He went to the ICU and was intubated.

“First, they said it was Kawasaki syndrome. Then they found out that he already had Covid-19. We did not know, he was asymptomatic. It was then that they classified it as this post-Covid syndrome ”, explains Fernanda.

According to the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics, the main difference between the two syndromes is that SIM-P records a higher frequency of gastrointestinal manifestations and myocardial dysfunction in patients. Additionally, SIM-P also affects older children, while Kawasaki syndrome is prevalent in children up to five years of age.

The new syndrome, which is considered rare, has been reported in 14 of the 27 federative units of the country. The state that registered the most cases (21%) is Ceará, with 41 notifications. They are followed by: Pará (24 cases), Rio de Janeiro (22), São Paulo (19) and the Federal District (19).

Cases were also recorded in Alagoas (9), Bahía (11), Espírito Santo (8), Minas Gerais (5), Paraíba (6), Pernambuco (9), Piauí (6), Rio Grande do Norte (9) and Rio Grande do Sul (9).

Among the 14 deaths, 64% were registered in children aged 0 to 4 years. There were 9 deaths in this age group. The deaths occurred in the states of Bahia (1), Ceará (2), Pará (3), Paraíba (2), Pernambuco (1), Piauí (1), Rio de Janeiro (3) and São Paulo (1).

The pediatrician Kfouri says that the treatment for this inflammatory syndrome consists of cardiovascular support, with medications for the heart and also for inflammation.

The disease became mandatory notification in the Ministry of Health on August 17, at the request of the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics. Additionally, since July 24, the ministry has provided an online platform to monitor SIM-P cases associated with Covid-19.