Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children across 16 Latin American countries: A multicenter study from the REKAMLATINA Network.

OBJECTIVES

Our aim was to describe the epidemiology and outcomes of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in Latin America.

METHODS

We conducted an observational, retrospective, and prospective multicenter study that gathered information from 84 participating centers across 16 Latin American countries between August 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022.

RESULTS

Of the 1239 reported children with MIS-C, 84.18% were previously healthy. The most frequent clinical manifestation in our studied population was abdominal pain (N = 804, 64.9%), followed by conjunctival injection (N = 784, 63.3%). The median duration of fever at the time of hospital admission was 5 days and a significant number of subjects required admission to an intensive care unit (N = 589, 47.5%). Most of the subjects (N = 1096, 88.7%) were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin, whereas 76.7% (N = 947) were treated with steroids, of whom 10.6% (N = 100) did not receive intravenous immunoglobulin. The death rate attributed to MIS-C was 4.88%, with a rate of 3.39% for those initially diagnosed with MIS-C and 8.85% for those whose admission diagnosis was not MIS-C ( <0.001, odds ratio 2.76, 95% confidence interval 1.6-4.6).

CONCLUSIONS

One of the most significant findings from our study was the death rate, especially in those not initially diagnosed with MIS-C, in whom the rate was higher. This highlights the importance of increasing awareness and making an earlier diagnosis of MIS-C in Latin America.