January 26, 2023

expert reaction to number of children treated for Kawasaki disease and plea from NHS Blood and Transplant for plasma donors

A press release from NHS Blood and Transplant states that the number of children treated for Kawasaki disease has increased, prompting a plea for plasma donors.

Prof Adam Finn, Professor of Paediatrics, University of Bristol, said:

“There’s always a need for donors for blood and blood products and this is more acute than ever for plasma used to make immunoglobulins which can be critically important medicines because demand has gone up recently.  Kawasaki disease is a rare and poorly understood acute illness of children which can affect critical blood vessels including those that provide the heart with its own blood supply (the coronary arteries).  Immunoglobulin can be lifesaving in this condition.

“Early in the pandemic there were some cases of a new, rare but potentially severe disease in children caused by SARS CoV2 the virus that causes COVID19.  It’s called PIMS-TS in the UK (Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Temporarily associated with SARS CoV2 infection) and MIS-C in the USA (Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children).  This condition is very similar to Kawasaki Disease in its manifestations although it tends to occur in older children.  Owing to this similarity, similar treatment was offered to these children including immunoglobulin.  As a result of valid concerns about this new condition, the clinical threshold for offering children presenting unwell with persistent fevers became lower and often there was uncertainty as to whether the diagnosis was KD or PIMS.  Accordingly, the increased demand for plasma is very real and the need for more donations is pressing, but it is not clear whether the incidence of KD really changed during the pandemic at this time.  The number of cases of PIMS-Ts early in the pandemic undoubtedly increased demand for immunoglobulin and changed clinical management pathways.  Fortunately, all the signs are that, despite the continuing circulation of SARS CoV2, the number and severity of PIMS-Ts cases has now fallen very considerably.  Nevertheless, the shortage of immunoglobulin remains and supplies are badly needed to permit treatment of future cases of KD and a variety of other conditions going forward.”

‘Press release title: ‘Number of children treated for Kawasaki disease doubles prompting plea for plasma donors’, from NHS Blood & Transplant.

Stats from the National Immunoglobulin Database annual reports: https://igd.mdsas.com/reports/

Declared interests

Prof Adam Finn is a member of JCVI and also does vaccine policy advisory work for WHO.  He is Chief Investigator of the Valneva vaccine clinical development programme in the UK.  He receives no remuneration for this work over and above his salary from the University of Bristol and has no personal or family financial or intellectual property assets related to this company or any other vaccine developer or manufacturer.

AF is an investigator in several COVID19 vaccine trials and studies including Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen and Valneva vaccines and several UK government-funded studies involving more than one vaccine.  He is U.K. Chief Investigator Sanofi COVID19 booster vaccine trial.  He is an advisor to the UK government as a member of JCVI.  He chairs the WHO Euro Technical Advisory Group of Experts and is a member of the WHO Special Advisory Group of Experts Working Group on COVID19 vaccines.  He undertakes consultancy work for several vaccine developers.  He receives no personal remuneration for any of this work, owns no IP or stocks and shares and is paid only in his role as Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Bristol.