Black and Latino children are much more likely to be diagnosed with a rare inflammatory syndrome linked to COVID-19, a new study finds.
Researchers at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, analyzed a small group for kids to see if they had developed Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C).
They found that black children were at the highest risk, representing 46 percent of the patients in the study group, four times higher than the number of white children with the condition.
The researchers also looked at aspects of the patients' immune systems, finding that MIS-C occurs a few weeks after a child becomes infected with COVID-19 due to a hyperactive immune system.
The authors say it's unclear why children of color are more affected, but that the findings shed new light on this rare yet dangerous condition in children - which may become more prevalent as variants pose a risk to young children who aren't yet vaccinated.
MIS-C, a condition that severely impacts a small number of children infected with Covid, is more common in black and Latino populations. Pictured: A five-year-old child in a hospital bed at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla NY, May 2020
Children's National Hospital found that 46 percent of MIS-C patients were black while only 11 percent were white, meaning black children were four times more likely to be diagnosed with the condition
It's difficult to dispute the disproportionate burden that Covid has placed on people of color in the U.S.
Black Americans are twice as likely to have died of Covid than white Americans, according to analysis by APM Research Lab.
Native Americans are more than three times more likely to have died of Covid.
The disparity is particularly stark for Covid's youngest victims.
Black children ages 0 to 17 make up about 27 percent of the U.S. population, yet they account for 35 percent of the COVID deaths in this age group, per the CDC.
One reason why children of color have been harder hit by Covid is, they're more likely to be struck by MIS-C.
MIS-C is a rare condition associated with Covid in which children's immune systems become hyperactive, causing severe inflammation (or swelling). It typically occurs four to six weeks after a child is infected.
Children with this condition can become severely ill - even though they may experience mild symptoms during their initial Covid infection.
As of June 2, over 4,000 MIS-C cases have been reported in the U.S and 36 children have died.
The CDC reports that 32 percent of MIS-C patients have been Hispanic/Latino children and 30 percent have been black children, compared to 28 percent white
