[HTML][HTML] TBK1 and TNFRSF13B mutations and an autoinflammatory disease in a child with lethal COVID-19

A Schmidt, S Peters, A Knaus, H Sabir… - NPJ genomic …, 2021 - nature.com
A Schmidt, S Peters, A Knaus, H Sabir, F Hamsen, C Maj, J Fazaal, S Sivalingam…
NPJ genomic medicine, 2021nature.com
Among children, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections
are typically mild. Here, we describe the case of a 3.5-year-old girl with an unusually severe
presentation of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The child had an autoinflammatory
disorder of unknown etiology, which had been treated using prednisolone and methotrexate,
and her parents were half cousins of Turkish descent. After 5 days of nonspecific viral
infection symptoms, tonic-clonic seizures occurred followed by acute cardiac insufficiency …
Abstract
Among children, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections are typically mild. Here, we describe the case of a 3.5-year-old girl with an unusually severe presentation of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The child had an autoinflammatory disorder of unknown etiology, which had been treated using prednisolone and methotrexate, and her parents were half cousins of Turkish descent. After 5 days of nonspecific viral infection symptoms, tonic-clonic seizures occurred followed by acute cardiac insufficiency, multi-organ insufficiency, and ultimate death. Trio exome sequencing identified a homozygous splice-variant in the gene TBK1, and a homozygous missense variant in the gene TNFRSF13B. Heterozygous deleterious variants in the TBK1 gene have been associated with severe COVID-19, and the variant in the TNFRSF13B gene has been associated with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). We suggest that the identified variants, the autoinflammatory disorder and its treatment, or a combination of these factors probably predisposed to lethal COVID-19 in the present case.
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