Some Children with COVID-19 or MIS-C Face Kidney Injury: Study

The link between SARS-CoV-2 and potential stress to kidneys is unclear, but damage to the organs has been documented in adults with COVID-19 too.

marcus a. banks
| 3 min read
kidney acute kidney injury covid-19 mis-c children kids nephrology long covid pandemic coronavirus sars-cov-2

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, BEASTFROMEAST

More than 10 percent of children hospitalized with COVID-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome, an inflammatory condition commonly known as MIS-C that in rare cases has followed SARS-CoV-2 infection, experienced acute kidney injury, according to a study published March 3 in Kidney International. Kids with kidney damage remained in the hospital an average of eight days longer than did other children facing these conditions without the added kidney stress.

“Recognizing that kidney function contributes to outcomes post-COVID is important to think about, especially in the pediatric population. These kids are young and have a whole life ahead of them,” says Abby Basalely, a pediatric nephrologist at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, and a coauthor of the study.

People with acute kidney injury can have trouble regulating body fluids or urinating normally. The injury often resolves itself but will sometimes progress into chronic ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • marcus a. banks

    Marcus A. Banks

    Marcus is a science and health journalist based in New York City. He graduated from the Science Health and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University in 2019, and earned a master’s in Library and Information Science from Dominican University in 2002. He’s written for Slate, Undark, Spectrum, and Cancer Today.

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide