Heart damage to asymptomatic children with COVID-19 could require lifelong monitoring and interventions

Many children who get Covid-19 are unlikely to show symptoms and very few will die from the disease. But the authors of a new paper in EClinicalMedicine (a journal of The Lancet) say even asymptomatic children are susceptible to a heart inflammation syndrome that can cause permanent heart damage.

From The University of Texas Health Newsroom:

Case studies also show MIS-C can strike seemingly healthy children without warning three or four weeks after asymptomatic infections, said Alvaro Moreira, MD, MSc, of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Moreira, a neonatologist, is an assistant professor of pediatrics in the university's Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine.

"According to the literature, children did not need to exhibit the classic upper respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 to develop MIS-C, which is frightening," Dr. Moreira said. "Children might have no symptoms, no one knew they had the disease, and a few weeks later, they may develop this exaggerated inflammation in the body."