No Increase in Kawasaki Disease-Like Illnesses During the COVID-19 Pandemic Compared With 4 Previous Years: A Retrospective Analysis.

Molin, Amber; Kulenthirarajan, Rajesh; Lopez-Peña, Maricarmen; Knuth, Emily; Barillas-Arias, Liliana; Andrews, Shannon L

BACKGROUND SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) infection produces a wide variety of inflammatory responses in children, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, which has similar clinical manifestations as Kawasaki disease (KD). METHODS We performed a chart review of all patients with KD-like illnesses from January 1, 2016, to May 31, 2020, at a tertiary care children's hospital within a larger health system. Relevant symptoms, comorbid illnesses, laboratory results, imaging studies, treatment, and outcomes were reviewed. Descriptive analyses to compare features over time were performed. RESULTS We identified 81 cases of KD-like illnesses from January 1, 2016, to May 31, 2020. Few clinical features, such as gallbladder involvement, were more prevalent in 2020 than in previous years. A few patients in 2020 required more intensive treatment with interleukin 1 receptor antagonist therapy. There were no other clear differences in incidence, laboratory parameters, number of doses of intravenous immunoglobulin, or outcomes over the years of the study. CONCLUSIONS There was no difference in incidence, laboratory parameters, or number of doses of intravenous immunoglobulin required for treatment of KD-like illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic when compared with previous years at our institution. Kawasaki disease-like illnesses, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, may not have changed substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic.