The grant was awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Service’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
Photo Courtesy of Beckman Coulter
As of September 24th, BARDA (the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a division of the Dept. of Health and Human Services) has spent over $13.3 billion on COVID-19 funding since February. Beckman Coulter, a global clinical diagnostics leader, added their name to that funding list this week.
Beckman Coulter will be using the grant to validate the ability of their Monocyte Distribution Width (MDW) hematology biomarker to aid in the rapid detection of a rare but serious complication of COVID-19 affecting children.
Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children has affected 1,097 children with 20 deaths as of October 15th. MIS-C is a new syndrome with little understanding of why some children develop it after a COVID-19 illness or contact while others do not. What is clear is that identifying it is a challenge, but early detection is essential.
That’s where Beckman Coulter is ready to swoop in with their MDW hematology biomarker to help. The biomarker was originally promoted for use in emergency rooms for the early detection of sepsis. The MDW biomarker is a measure of increased morphological variability of monocytes, which can indicate the presence of a systemic infection. In the case of a MIS-C patient, it would indicate a systemic inflammatory response.
One of the most common initial side effects of MIS-C is a fever. The trouble is, fevers are extremely common in kids. But when the fever is caused by this particular inflammatory syndrome, it can quickly progress into a severe, life-threatening illness. Being able to rapidly identify children early in the illness is critical. Undetected MIS-C can lead to hypotensive shock, cardiac aneurysm or ventricular failure.
Anita Kissee, PR manager for St Luke’s Health in Idaho, tweeted that one of their pediatric MIS-C cases took a serious turn on Tuesday and is now waiting at the hospital for a heart transplant. The teen was healthy prior to contracting coronavirus.
A New York teen who was hospitalized in April due to MIS-C said the syndrome feels like your body is on fire. Though now healed and at home with his family, at the worst point of his illness all his organs were inflamed, his veins were collapsing and his heart was failing. At this time, the long-term consequences of MIS-C are unknown.
Dr. Kenny Bramwell, St. Luke’s Children’s Medical Director, said, “There’s an idea that this (COVID-19) doesn’t really affect children. Sadly, we have a had a few dozen cases of Covid that have required hospitalization of children here locally. We have had a few cases that were in the most severe category of MIS-C. While Covid is commonly inconsequential for many people, there are a subset of people who become exceptionally sick. Sometimes it’s sick enough to require a heart transplant. Sometimes it’s a chronic problem where somebody has difficulty breathing.”
Beckman Coulter’s research to explore MDW’s ability to aid in the rapid detection of MIS-C is now part of BARDA’s Rapidly Deployable Capabilities program. The award will help fund a collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Florida. Preliminary results from a study earlier this year at Massachusetts General are what originally revealed the potential for MDW to aid in this much needed early detection.
