RESUMEN
BackgroundMultisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) is one of the most feared complications following SARS-CoV2 infection in children and adolescents. Few multinational multicenter studies from Latin America have been published.ObjectivesTo describe the clinical presentation, management, and outcomes of MIS-C in Latin America.MethodsObservational, prospective and retrospective, multicenter study to gather information from 84 participating centers across 16 Latin American countries, between August January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022.ResultsOf the 1,239 reported cases of MIS-C, 84.2% 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 days of fever at the time of hospital admission was 5 and a significant number of subjects required admission to an intensive care unit (N=589, 47.8%). A total of 538 (47.2%) patients had an abnormal initial echocardiogram. Most of the subjects (N= 1,096, 88.7%) were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), while 76.7% (N= 947) were treated with steroids, of which 10.6% (N= 100) did not receive IVIG. 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 (P= 0.00001).ConclusionOne of the most significant findings from our study was the death rate, especially in those not initially diagnosed with MIS-C, in whom it was higher. This highlights the importance of increasing awareness and making an earlier diagnosis of MIS-C in Latin America.REFERENCES:NIL.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of InterestsNone Declared.
RESUMEN
Objective: To evaluate clinical, laboratory, and epidemiological features of acute neuroinflammatory disorders (ANIDs) that followed the 2016 Zika epidemic in Colombia. Background: The outbreak of Zika virus infection in Colombia in 2015-2016, produced an increased incidence of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) and other ANID cases. The Neuroviruses Emerging in the Americas Study (NEAS) network was established in 2016 as a multicenter-based observatory of ANIDs to investigate the role of emerging pathogens in neuroinflammatory diseases. Design/Methods: NEAS serves as a multi-center study based on 13 hospitals in 7 cities in Colombia which study all newly diagnosed patients who fulfill established criteria for GBS, encephalitis, myelitis, meningoencephalitis, or cranial nerve disorders as part of an observational cohort. We analyzed the clinical and epidemiological features of all cases evaluated between January 2016 and September 2021. Results: An observational cohort of 825 patients with ANIDs were recruited during the study period. 58.8% of cases were male with a median age of 43 (IQR 25-58) years. The most frequent ANIDs were GBS (46.1%) and facial nerve palsy (28.7%). The diagnosis of encephalitis (9.5%), myelitis (6.5%), and optic neuritis (5.9%) were less frequent. Patients with GBS were predominantly male (70.6%) and had a median age of 49 (IQR 32-60) years. Interestingly, there was an increase incidence of GBS in 2019. Conclusions: The outbreak of Zika in Colombia produced a marked increase in the incidence of GBS in 2016. Although cases of GBS and other ANIDs continued to emerge after the incidence of Zika infection decreased in July 2016, the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has not produced any significant increase in the incidence of GBS in Colombia.