THEMip-C can present with skin symptoms, such as rashes, and lung problems. But infectious disease specialist Bassetti warns against false alarmism
Although the Covid pandemic is now over, the coronavirus continues to be scary. What’s worrying now is the Mip-C, a new disease, but linked to Sars-Cov2. According to what was discovered by a team of researchers from California University and the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom, would affect those who have already had Covid and could even be mortal.
What is Mip-C
As explained by the experts in the study, published in the journal eBioMedicine of the group Lancet, Mip-C is a new disease, born in the wake of an autoimmune disease already known as MDA-5. Just like the latter, it would be caused by antibodies which, once they encounter the coronavirus or other RNA viruses, would react disproportionately, causing symptoms such as damage to the skin, muscles and even lungsto the point of developing potentially fatal interstitial pneumonia.
What the researchers discovered
The study combined information from American and English researchers, who were analyzing anomalous cases of a syndrome recorded in English patients who had had Covid. 60 were taken into account, in 25 of which coronavirus infection had led to one interstitial pneumonia which had left lethal scars. The death was attributed to the effect of a so-called “anti-MDA5 positive dermatomyositis”, an autoimmune disease in response to certain viruses. What was striking, however, was the particularity of this form, due to the “rate of progression and number of deaths”, as explained by the experts, who called the syndrome Mip-C, an acronym which indicates MDA5 autoimmunity and interstitial pneumonia contemporary with Covid.
What does Covid have to do with it
To complete the research we used the Boolean Network Explorer-BoNE to analyze big data in a short time and understand whether the new disease may have also affected patients outside the United Kingdom. Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at the San Martino Polyclinic in Genoa, explains: «This possibility exists, but it must be clarified that the scope of the news must also be reduced otherwise there is a risk of creating a unjustified alarmism. Meanwhile, it must be said that it is certainly a serious and potentially lethal disease, but Covid has nothing to do with it, or rather: it is not the cause, but just a “fuse”».
The coronavirus is just a “fuse”
«In medical terms in these cases we speak of “trigger”, of spark or fuse, which can “light up” some situationstherefore contributing to causing some diseases, but specifically the cause of the deaths was not Covid directly. It was already known that the Sars-cov2 virus could have a similar effect on this and other diseases, but be careful: the researchers investigated the link with Covid, but since Mip-C is an autoimmune disease it could also have been caused by other factors. In short, the activation was made possible by reaction of the immune system to Covid, not from Covid itself», underlines Bassetti.
It’s not Long Covid
The risk of experiencing Mip-C for anyone who has had Covid, even in a mild form, must therefore be excluded: «The new syndrome is part of the forms of positive anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis, which it should not be confused with Long Covid. We need to be careful about what we communicate: the researchers’ discovery is certainly important, but it must be framed correctly and above all it should not be exaggerated. I myself learned about it from the “secular” press, not from the specialist one. It is the result of a study on only 60 patients, 8 of whom died from Mip-C. This is useful research, but it must be limited, otherwise we risk that anyone with compatible symptoms fears they have become ill with Mip-C”, reiterates the infectious disease specialist.
Is there anything to worry about?
Bassetti insists: «I repeat, there is no need to worry for no reason. The subjects in question had pulmonary fibrosis characterized by the presence of a specific cell produced by our immune system, with a potential correlation with the Sars-Cov2 virus as a trigger. But it is not Sars-Cov2 that causes fibrosis: those who had the disease had it Also Sars-Cov2. The pathology was not caused by Covid, but rather by a reaction to Covid» explains the infectious disease specialist. The fact that Mip-C could affect other patients outside the United Kingdom, as hypothesized by English researchers, is possible, but should not represent an unjustified alarm: «The research sheds new light on Covid, but perhaps before the pandemic a causing the same pathology could have been the influenza virus or other bacteria”, concludes Bassetti.
