Key Points

• Between March 2, 2020, and November 21, 2021, 781 cases of pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PIMS or MIS-C), including 702 linked to COVID-19, were reported to Santé publique France by pediatricians.

• More than three-quarters of the cases were confirmed by positive RT-PCR and/or serology for SARS-CoV-2 (n=642, 82%). A link to the virus was probable in 26 patients, or 3% of cases (exposure to a positive individual or suggestive CT scan), and considered possible in 34 patients (5%). For the remaining 79 patients (10%), this link could not be established.

• Among the 702 patients for whom the link to COVID-19 was possible, probable, or confirmed, PIMS was associated with myocarditis in 498 cases (71%). Among the 79 patients with no established link to COVID-19, myocarditis was found in only 10 of them (13%).

• A stay in the intensive care unit was required for 318 children (41%) and in the critical care unit for 199 (25%). The remaining children were hospitalized in the pediatric ward. A 9-year-old child died from systemic inflammation with myocarditis.

• The regions reporting the highest number of cases were Île-de-France (304 cases, 39%), Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (106 cases, 14%), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (81 cases, 10%), Grand Est (56 cases, 7%), Occitanie (43 cases, 6%), and Nouvelle-Aquitaine (35 cases, 4%). The other regions reported fewer than 30 cases each.

• An average time to onset of PIMS of four to five weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection is frequently observed (very clearly during the first wave of the epidemic).

More information on national surveillance of pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PIMS) cases