Researchers have uncovered how the immune system is altered in a rare COVID-19 related illness in children referred to as paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS-TS).

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PIMS-TS is a rare syndrome which has emerged in a small number of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The condition causes severe inflammation in blood vessels and can lead to heart damage.

The team from Evelina London Children's Hospital and King's College London analysed blood samples from 25 children who had PIMS-TS and compared these to healthy children. The study, supported by the NIHR Guy's and St Thomas' BRC and published in Nature Medicine, showed that in the acute stage of PIMS-TS, children have raised levels of molecules called cytokines, and reduced levels of white blood cells called lymphocytes. They saw that by the time the children had recovered, the immune system changes had gradually returned to normal.