RE: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children

We read with interest the article “Socioeconomic and Racial and/or Ethnic Disparities in Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome” by Javalkar et al.1 Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a potentially fatal complication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) because patients can develop myocarditis, coronary artery abnormalities, arrhythmias, myocardial ischemia, cardiogenic shock, and death.2 Javalkar et  al demonstrated that children in Massachusetts with lower socioeconomic status and higher social vulnerability index (SVI) had higher odds of developing MIS-C and that, of the children with lower socioeconomic status and higher SVI, those with Hispanic ethnicity and Black race had between 8.7 and 49.8 times higher odds of developing MIS-C than their non-Hispanic white counterparts.1
Source: PEDIATRICS - Category: Pediatrics Source Type: research