Doctors in the United States are reporting an alarming trend of children suffering from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) after getting over a coronavirus infection, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
“We’re now getting more of these MIS-C kids, but this time, it just seems that a higher percentage of them are really critically ill,” said Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, chief of infectious diseases at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.
So far, 30 children have died from MIS-C, out of 2,068 confirmed cases in 48 states. The patients range in age from infants to 20-year-olds.
The coronavirus is normally considered less dangerous for young people and children than for the elderly and people with preexisting conditions.
Symptoms of MIS-C include fever, rash, red eyes or gastrointestinal problems in the early stages, which can progress to various heart problems that can be severe.
MIS-C can affect children who have contracted and recovered from the coronavirus even if they were asymptomatic when they were infected. According to doctors, more cases of MIS-C are being seen now than during the first wave and there are also a higher number of severe cases.
A similar phenomenon has been reported in Israel.
Dr. Shir Malach, a senior pediatric intensive care physician at Meir Hospital, spoke with Anat Davidov of 103FM yesterday about the British mutation in the corona and its impact on children, including a 14-year-old boy hospitalized in her ward with life-threatening post-corona symptoms.
"The boy looks better, he's getting better but he has not come out of it yet. We have treated low blood pressure problems, that's mostly what we've seen. There's a fever and a rash, but that's less what worries us," Dr. Malach said.
She added, "Children get over the coronavirus easily, some do not know they had the coronavirus, and after a few weeks fever and signs appear that are somewhat specific to post-corona, and after a few days their parents turn to the medical system and we find other problems like damage to other systems, multisystem inflammatory response."