Black children were 15 times more likely than white children to develop a rare syndrome linked to coronavirus, researchers have found.
A study by clinicians at London’s Evelina Children’s Hospital and King’s College London also found children who were poorer or whose families had at least one key worker were also at greater risk from the condition called Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PIMS-TS).
The rare condition emerged shortly after the first wave of Covid-19 and saw children experience a severe inflammatory responses to infection from Covid-19 with many needing to be treated in intensive care. Unlike Covid-19 most children recover quickly.
At its height, the peak in PIMS-TS cases came around six weeks after the peak of infections in London with one child admitted to the Evelina for every 200 adults admits across London.
Researchers analysed the associations of ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation with risk and severity for children in the south-east of England who admitted to Evelina London with PIMS-TS between February and June 2020.
They warned the findings show inequalities in health that are known risks for adults also feature in children and could be worse.
Source: independent.co.uk
Picture: pixabay.com
