A study of children and adolescents who received a COVID-19 vaccination following multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) found that there were no reports of serious complications including myocarditis or MIS-C reoccurrence.
About half of participants experienced mild and typical reactions, including arm soreness and fatigue. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, demonstrates that it is safe to get a vaccine after having MIS-C. The findings will be published in JAMA Network Open.
The multicenter, observational study helps resolve a lingering question about whether the COVID vaccine can increase the risk of health problems in young people who have had MIS-C, a rare and potentially fatal immunological reaction that can occur following infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The cross-sectional study included 22 medical centers (21 in the United States and 1 in Canada) participating in the NHLBI’s Long-Term Outcomes After the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MUSIC) study. It enrolled 385 patients aged 5 years or older with prior MIS-C who were eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. Of this group,185 (48.1%) received at least one vaccine dose. The median age was 12.2 years and 73.5% were male. The participants were racially diverse – 24.3% were Black, 31.9% were Hispanic, and 28.6% were white. The median length of time from their MIS-C diagnosis to their first vaccine dose was 9 months.
Of those who received a COVID vaccination following MIS-C, mild adverse reactions – mostly arm soreness and fatigue – occurred in 49% of them, similar to the general population. There were no reports of serious complications, including myocarditis or recurrence of MIS-C, the researchers said.
