Table 1.
Characteristics of children with COVID-19, MIS-C and healthy controls
| Characteristics | Control (n=40) | COVID-19 (n=174) | MIS-C (n=21) | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 5 (1-9) | 4 (0.5-10) | 6 (3-11) | |
| <1, n (%) | 9 (23) | 46 (26) | 2 (10) | |
| 1-5, n (%) | 17 (42) | 52 (30) | 8 (38) | |
| 6-10, n (%) | 8 (20) | 33 (19) | 6 (29) | |
| >10, n (%) | 6 (15) | 43 (25) | 5 (24) | |
| Female, n (%) | 24 (60) | 80 (46) | 5 (24) | *Control vs MIS-C |
| SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive, n (%) | 0 | 174 (100) | 10 (48) | |
| SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody positive, n (%) | 0 | 53 (31) | 19 (90) | |
| SARS-CoV-2 IgM antibody positive, n (%) | 0 | 68 (39) | 10 (48) | |
| Close contact positive, n (%) | 0 | 117 (67) | 13 (62) | |
| Laboratory | ||||
| WBC counts, 103/mm3 | N/A | 7,600 (5,100-10,125) |
10,600 (8,300-16,900) |
**COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Neutrophils, % | N/A | 45 (31-67) | 78 (66-90) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Lymphocytes, % | N/A | 38 (20-54) | 23 (11-34) | **COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio | N/A | 1 (0.6-4) | 4 (2-9) | **COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Coinfections, n (%) | ||||
| None | 40 (100) | 166 (95) | 21 (100) | |
| Bacterial | 0 | 8 (5) | 0 | |
| Viral | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | ||||
| None | 37 (92) | 136 (78) | 16 (76) | |
| Heart disease | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | |
| Renal disease | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | |
| Lung disease | 0 | 20 (12) | 4 (19) | |
| Prematurity | 0 | 3 (2) | 0 | |
| Autoimmunity | 0 | 3 (2) | 0 | |
| Cancer | 0 | 4 (2) | 0 | |
| Obesity | 2 (5) | 4 (2) | 1 (5) | |
| Diabetes | 1 (3) | 1 (1) | 0 | |
| Signs and symptoms, n (%) | ||||
| Fever | N/A | 81 (47) | 20 (95) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Cough | N/A | 34 (20) | 2 (10) | |
| Dyspnea | N/A | 16 (9) | 1 (5) | |
| Odynophagia | N/A | 24 (14) | 4 (19) | |
| Myalgia | N/A | 9 (5) | 2 (10) | |
| Pneumonia | N/A | 12 (7) | 3 (14) | |
| Gastrointestinal | N/A | 23 (13) | 12 (57) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Haematological | N/A | 0 | 12 (57) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Mucocutaneous | N/A | 0 | 8 (38) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Cardiac abnormalities | N/A | 0 | 12 (57) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Neurological | N/A | 0 | 1 (5) | |
| Shock | N/A | 0 | 5 (24) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| PICU admission, n (%) | 0 | 2 (1) | 12 (57) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Medications, n (%) | ||||
| None | 40 (100) | 148 (85) | 0 | |
| Corticosteroid | 0 | 18 (10) | 20 (95) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| IVIG | 0 | 0 | 20 (95) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Antibiotic | 0 | 8 (5) | 2 (10) | |
| Enoxaparin | 0 | 0 | 14 (67) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Aspirin | 0 | 0 | 15 (71) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Inotropic | 0 | 0 | 9 (43) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Respiratory status, n (%) | ||||
| Mechanical ventilation | 0 | 0 | 5 (24) | ****COVID-19 vs MIS-C |
| Oxygen requirement | 0 | 28 (16) | 1 (5) | |
| Room air | 40 (100) | 146 (84) | 16 (76) |
Data are expressed as median values (25th–75th percentile) unless otherwise indicated. Abbreviations: IVIG, Intravenous Immunoglobulin; PICU, pediatric intensive care unit; WBCs, white blood cells. Mann-Whitney and Kruskall-Wallis tests were used for cuantitative variables. Fisher´s exact test and Chi-square test were adopted for category variables. Only statistical differences are shown. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ****p<0.0001.