The Italian Society of Pediatrics (SIP) is monitoring cases of the Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (PMIS) in children that might be related to COVID-19 and recommends the use of protective masks for children over three years old, SIP President Alberto Villani told Sputnik
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2020) The Italian Society of Pediatrics (SIP) is monitoring cases of the Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (PMIS) in children that might be related to COVID-19 and recommends the use of protective masks for children over three years old, SIP President Alberto Villani told Sputnik.
Last week, a team of Italian researchers published a study in the peer-reviewed journal Lancet claiming that it had detected a correlation between the coronavirus and a severe inflammatory syndrome similar to Kawasaki disease in children in the northern Italian province of Bergamo, the country's most affected region.
The Kawasaki-like syndrome, detected in several countries over the past several weeks, including the United States, was classified as Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (PMIS).
"The Italian Society of Pediatrics, which has 11,000 members, is monitoring what is happening in Italy, and collecting all pediatric cases with symptoms compatible with the new disease," Villani said.
He noted that PMIS and Kawasaki disease must be differentiated.
"The cases described in Bergamo and in the United States have been defined as a new clinical manifestation which the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) classified as the 'Pediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome and SARS-CoV-2 infection in children.' This 'new disease' is characterized by some symptoms that are typical of Kawasaki disease, but it is a different entity," Villani continued.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday that almost all children diagnosed with PMIS had tested positive for COVID-19 or had antibodies to it.
The study that was published in Italy last week reported a monthly incidence of Kawasaki-like disease cases in the Bergamo province at least 30 times greater than the monthly incidence of the previous 5 years, and claimed there was a "clear starting point" after the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in the area.
Italy is now in the so-called Phase Two of the emergency, which is a gradual return to normal life. Children under six years old are exempt from wearing a face mask in the regulations of Phase Two.
"For children, same as for adults, the rules that for weeks have been considered important all over the world are valid: physical distancing, care of hand hygiene, use of masks. By now Italy has indicated the use of face masks for children only over 6 years old. As the Italian Society of Pediatrics we have proposed the use of masks from the age of 3 years old," Villani said.
The most frequent and grave consequence after the PMIS is myocarditis, the medical scientist added, noting that more research on the new syndrome is needed in order to understand its origin and find better treatment for those affected.
Over the past weeks, several countries, including Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, have reported a new inflammatory disease spreading and resembling the Kawasaki disease that mostly affects young children and causes heart and kidney failure.
