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Two U.S. research groups have reported finding nearly 300 cases of an alarming apparent side effect of Covid-19 in children, a condition called multisystem inflammation syndrome, or MIS-C. While researchers have previously reported on the condition, the papers mark the first attempt to measure how frequently the side effect occurs and how it affects children who develop it. (Branswell, 6/29)

Today the New England Journal of Medicine published two studies spotlighting the serious manifestations of COVID-19–related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), the first involving 186 kids in 26 states and the second involving 99 patients in New York. On May 14, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a national health advisory on COVID-19 patients with features of MIS-C similar to Kawasaki disease, a rare pediatric inflammatory illness that can cause coronary-artery aneurysms and toxic shock syndrome. (Beusekom, 6/29)

At least 285 U.S. children have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus and while most recovered, the potential for long-term or permanent damage is unknown, two new studies suggest. The papers, published online Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine, provide the fullest report yet on the condition. (Tanner, 6/30)

More than 8 percent of children living in Department of Children and Families group homes and similar settings have contracted the coronavirus, a figure that far outstrips the rate among young people elsewhere in the state. The first case of COVID-19 in so-called congregate care surfaced in early April, according to DCF officials, and similar to other corners of Massachusetts, the virus has proliferated since. Of the roughly 1,700 children in state custody living in group homes or residential school settings, 144 have so far contracted the virus. (Stout, 6/29)