By analyzing clinical data from patients in Yorkshire, a large region in the north of England, researchers have identified a completely new disease that has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection is believed to be the trigger for this new syndrome. What is most concerning about this finding is that this new syndrome can not only be fatal – eight deaths were reported out of 60 cases described in the study – but can also affect people who have had a mild or asymptomatic infection with the virus. It is not surprising that several people in the study with signs and symptoms of the disease did not have an infection confirmed via swabs and similar tests. Experts have named this syndrome “MDA5 autoimmunity and interstitial pneumonia concurrent with COVID-19,” or MIP-C, in analogy to MIS-C, another recently discovered autoimmune condition associated with COVID-19 that affects children.
The features in detail
Professor McGonagle examined patients who, in addition to having lung scarring (found in 25 out of 60 cases), had rheumatological symptoms such as arthritis, myalgia (muscle pain) and extensive skin rashes. Not all of the patients in question had a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection (diagnosis obtained via oropharyngeal swabs after the onset of symptoms). Thus, scientists suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection, even if mild, can cause a distinctive form of anti-MDA5-positive dermatomyositis, called MIP-C (pronounced “mipsy”). This syndrome, unlike the one already known for over fifty years, differs in its rate of progression, mortality and behavior. Experts believe this new disease has also spread outside the UK, although specific data is lacking. The results of the research, entitled “MDA5-autoimmunity and interstitial pneumonitis contemporary with the COVID-19 pandemic (MIP-C)”, were published in the renowned scientific journal eBIOMedicine.
