Key Points

• Between March 2, 2020, and January 23, 2022, 932 cases of pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PIMS or MIS-C) were reported to Santé publique France, 849 of which were linked to COVID-19. Since week 49 of 2021 and especially during the first three weeks of 2022, there has been a very sharp increase in the number of PIMS cases.

• 372 cases (40%) involved girls. The median age of cases was 7 years (25% of cases were ≤ 4 years old and 75% ≤ 11 years old).

• More than eight out of 10 cases were confirmed by positive RT-PCR and/or serology for SARS-CoV-2 (n=778, 84%). A link to the virus was probable in 31 patients, or 3% of cases (exposure to a positive individual or suggestive CT scan), and considered possible in 40 patients (4%). For the remaining 83 patients (9%), this link could not be established.

• In France, the cumulative incidence of PIMS associated with COVID-19 was estimated at 5.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the population under 18 years of age.