Mortality Rate of Children With COVID-19 with and Without Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome: Single-Centre Study, Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, known as COVID-19, which was first reported in China, has infected more than 426 million people worldwide and resulted in almost six million recorded deaths.Paediatric patients younger than 18 years old account for a small percentage of COVID-19 cases. Paediatric hospitalization has increased in multiple states across the United States, with a cumulative rate of eight per hundred thousand population.The medical presentations of COVID-19 in children vary, ranging from a mild, asymptomatic disease to a life-threatening disease. A newly emerged syndrome, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), mimic those of Kawasaki disease (KD), and paediatric hyper-inflammation syndrome with more severe form of COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mortality risk for paediatric patients with COVID-19 with or without MIS-C. Factors, including admission to an ICU, need for mechanical ventilation, use of vasoactive agents, and duration of hospitalization. A total of 95 patients met the study’s inclusion criteria. Ten (10.5%) had MIS-C, 50 (52.6%) were males, and 45 (47.4%) were females. The majority were Saudi’s nationals (n = 64; 67.4%). The mean age of the participants was 44.55 ± 44.31 months. Having conjunctivitis, Cutaneous rash, extend duration of fever, elevation of inflammatory markers; C. Reactive Protein, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate and ferritin was significantly associated with incidence of MIS-C. There was no statistical significance in ICU admission, need for mechanical ventilation or vasoactive agents, or duration of hospitalization and, incidence of death between the two groups. Our study highlighted the importance of investigating MIS-C in paediatric COVID-19 patients who present with conjunctivitis, a cutaneous rash, and extended durations of fever. A large multi-centre paediatric study is required to estimate the mortality rate of MIS-C with COVID-19.Funding Information: None.Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.Ethics Approval Statement: Ethical approval was obtained from the General Administration for Research Studies, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Number: H-02-K076-0621-519) before conducting the study.