Intestinal microbiota composition of children with infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C)

Microbiota composition may play a role in the development, prognosis, or post-infection of COVID-19. There are studies evaluating the microbiota composition at the time of diagnosis and during the course of COVID-19, especially in adults, while studies in children are limited and no study available in children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). This study was planned to compare intestinal microbiota composition in children diagnosed with MIS-C and acute COVID-19 infection with healthy children. In this prospective multicenter study, 25 children diagnosed with MIS-C, 20 with COVID-19 infection, and 19 healthy children were included. Intestinal microbiota composition was evaluated by 16 s rRNA gene sequencing. We observed changes of diversity, richness, and composition of intestinal microbiota in MIS-C cases compared to COVID-19 cases and in the healthy controls. The Shannon index was higher in the MIS-C group than the healthy controls ( p