A Saudi G6PD Deficient Girl Died with Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome-COVID-19 (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Reports on pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PMIS) temporally related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are increasing. African and Afro-Caribbean children constituted about 47% of the cases in these reports. Despite the fact that glucose-6-phosphatase dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is common among this population, the G6PD status of these cases has not been reported in these reports. We reported the first case of PMIS related to COVID-19 from Saudi Arabia. This case was a Saudi G6PD deficient girl who died with PMIS related to COVID-19. G6PD deficiency induces redox imbalance and exaggerates the inflammatory response; thus, it might contribute to the development or the grave outcome of our case. We urgently need to assess the association between G6PD deficiency and COVID-19 in a large study as the G6PD deficiency may be a useful predictor for the progression of the COVID-19.