A treatment used to reduce immune system activity and bodily inflammation may also be efficacious for children infected with COVID-19, a new study suggests.
More than 600 children were studied as part of a new release in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Corticosteroids were studied for treating conditions developed known as multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children and pediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (PIMS-TS).
Children generally develop PIMS-TS within a few weeks of infection with COVID-19.
“The new study, supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, investigated two initial treatments for this condition: a type of steroid called corticosteroids (such as methyl prednisolone) and antibody treatment (called immunoglobulin),” according to a press release of the results.
“The antibodies come from human blood, and have been shown to reduce inflammation in the body. The study also compared initial treatment with steroids together with immunoglobulin.”
The three treatments of focus, including corticosteroids, led to reduced inflammation, improving symptoms caused by infection.
“The study has been a real example of international collaboration and the willingness of paediatricians in many countries to share their data and experience to enable important questions as to optimal treatment to be answered,” the press release reads.
“Our finding, that treatments with immunoglobulin, steroids or a combination of both agents all result in more rapid resolution of inflammation (and have similar rates of progression to organ failure or recovery from critical illness), will be of great value to paediatricians worldwide in their treatment of children with this new disorder.”
