Concerns Persist About Giving COVID-19 Vaccine to Kids Who’ve Had MIS-C. Should They, Though?

Though relatively rare, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) has struck fear in the hearts of families across the United States for years now. And in households where a child did recover from MIS-C, questions have abounded as to whether administering COVID-19 vaccine would provide protection from future problems with the virus or leave children at greater risk for severe outcomes. A study of children in Texas and Italy, however, suggests that there’s no additional risk to children receiving the vaccine compared with those who have not had MIS-C. In fact, according to the resultant article published by JAMA Network Open, none of the children studied developed hyperinflammation, myocarditis, or recurrence of MIS-C up to 9.5 months after vaccination. It’s important to note that, because of the fact that MIS-C is relatively rare, the sample size was quite small (15 patients who had been treated for MIS-C). The authors note, however, that “with the known additive protection from reinfection provided by vaccinating previously infected individuals, these findings suggest that patients with a history of MIS-C can be offered vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.” JUCM has covered MIS-C from an urgent care perspective. If you missed that article, you can get caught up here.