Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia typhi in hospitalized children diagnosed with Pediatric Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome in Merida, Yucatan.

ABSTRACT

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) presents with fever, fatigue, elevated inflammatory markers (acute phase reactants), and a history of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or positive antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, the risk of MIS-C in the pediatric population increased. However, exposure to other viruses and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 positive antibodies in children hospitalized for various pathogen-associated illnesses will also remain common and may complicate differential diagnoses with diseases endemic to the region such as rickettsial diseases. The objective was to highlight the desirability of medical personnel systematically incorporating rickettsiosis as a differential diagnosis for MIS-C when studying a child with fever, non-specific symptoms, and elevated inflammatory markers. In conclusion MIS-C should be considered in children with elevated inflammatory markers when there is a history of COVID-19 and they also meet criteria that have already been established by international agencies, such as CDC and WHO.