New Study Unravels the Mystery of COVID’s Worst Pediatric Complication

A study identified how children’s immune systems trigger MIS-C by mistaking a COVID-19 protein for a similar human protein, leading to severe autoimmune responses. This finding provides new perspectives on treating autoimmune diseases linked to viral infections.

Research uncovers a mechanism behind multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, some children showed minimal or no symptoms when infected with the virus, only to experience organ failure weeks later.

Most recovered after aggressive treatment, but their sudden illness, dubbed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), remained a mystery. Now, a team of scientists from UC San Francisco, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital has discovered what led to many of these cases, with a study that has implications for other autoimmune diseases.