Australian researchers are hopeful this may lead to suitable treatments later on
It is rare for children to develop serious forms but unfortunately there are cases.
Children with severe forms develop either an inflammatory syndrome which can lead to heart problems, or an acute respiratory distress syndrome which leads to lesions due to lack of oxygen.
Australian researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne studied samples from children who had developed severe forms of covid and made an interesting discovery.
They published their results in the journal Nature Monday, May 2.
Protein mapping and comparison with other children
The researchers focused on the proteins produced during Covid infection.
They listed all the proteins present in children with a severe form of Covid from blood samples.
They compared the results with blood samples from children who had not been infected with Covid.
And so they discovered that the children affected by the syndromes had specific proteins in their blood that were absent in healthy children, as reported by the Guardian.
They were thus able to highlight 85 proteins specific to the multisystem inflammatory syndrome and 52 linked to the acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Encourage further treatment
This discovery is a first step, but it is very encouraging.
It might subsequently make it possible to establish a diagnosis more quickly and above all to develop appropriate treatments.
French assistance for this research
Since the researchers did not have enough blood samples from sick children, they contacted the Necker hospital in Paris.
Indeed, the French establishment welcomes children with severe forms of Covid.
They were thus able to provide the samples necessary for the Australian research.