Alteration of inflammatory markers in children and adolescents of multisystem inflammatory syndrome group during novel corona virus infectious disease-2019: A systemic review and meta-analysis

Background: To determine the impact of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) caused by novel coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (nCOVID-19) more investigations are needed related to children and adolescents. Among several inflammatory markers, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PC), ferritin (F) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) can be easily done among infected cases to assess the inflammatory status even in asymptomatic cases.

Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis to compare MIS and non-MIS cases in relation to elevation of inflammatory marker in children and adolescents due to nCOVID-19.

Method: Studies providing data on the prevalence of n-COVID-19 in children and adolescents (<21 years) were compared between MIS and non-MIS groups. All studies were selected from PubMed and other electronic database and PRISMA guidelines were followed for data abstracting. During screening and quality assessment, each article has been evaluated by two reviewers independently. For each parameter, the rate ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were compared between increased and non-increased group through Forest plot model.

Results: The present study indicated elevated range of all studied markers in the children during nCOVID-19 outbreak. The Forest plot indicated low heterogeneity for three studied markers, which can be the important parameter for identifying clinical feature of MIS during nCOVID-19.

Conclusions: All studied markers (CRP, PC, F and ESR) were elevated in children and adolescents during nCOVID-19 outbreak.

Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2021; 50(3): 519-526