Epidemiology of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in ChildrenA Step Closer to Understanding Who, Where, and When

Death and disease in adult patients from the COVID-19 pandemic continue unabated across the world well into 2021,¹ and why children have escaped severe disease from this virus² remains one of the most intriguing gaps in our understanding of the immune response to this virus. Of equal imperative, what insights can be gained via a deeper understanding as to why some children do become critically ill from COVID-19 and the more recently described multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)? Unlocking the key immunologic mechanisms driving these outcomes will likely initially emerge from meticulous epidemiologic studies that describe the few children who do get very ill from this disease.