More than 150 MIS-C cases in kids exposed to Covid-19

Gurgaon: More than 150 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) have been reported in the city over the past 10 days, according to health department data. The disease is usually being detected among children between five and 15 years and doctors say most patients do not need critical care.
“There has been a spike in the number of cases. Many kids are coming with low blood pressure and sometimes, we find their heart muscles have weakened due to inflammation of the myocardium (myocarditis), which may result in a cardiogenic shock-like condition. The good news is that most patients are recovering well,” said Dr Sudip Chowdhury, consultant paediatrician, Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurgaon. “If this disease has a long-term effect on the heart muscles remains to be seen and studied,” he added.
According to experts, children exposed to SARS-CoV-2 might show symptoms of MIS-C within two to six weeks. Another common condition among such children is lung fibrosis, which also manifests itself between two-six weeks after exposure. By this time, usually the RT-PCR report is negative.
MIS-C is characterised by inflammation in organs like the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. The symptoms include high fever for more than three days, rashes, swelling of hands and feet, redness of eyes, abdominal pain, vomiting and difficulty in breathing.
“Parents need to seek emergency care if a child has breathing trouble, pain or pressure in the chest, extreme lethargy and severe abdominal pain,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurgaon. For the past few days, several MIS-C cases have been reported in Delhi and NCR cities like Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. According to doctors, such numbers were not seen during the first wave. “If diagnosed early, a patient can be managed well. But proper diagnosis and treatment requires several tests. The problem with diagnosis is compounded by the fact that a child with MIS-C usually has high fever. But fever can also be because of malaria, dengue, viral infections, typhoid and Kawasaki disease. Hence, testing as early as on the second day of fever is advised,” said Dr Krishan Chugh, director and head of department, paediatrics, Fortis Memorial Research Institute. Most children have reported mild Covid symptoms or they were asymptomatic.
Explaining the nature of the disease, Dr Manish Mannan, head of department, paediatrics and neonatology, Paras Hospitals, said: “Some children are coming with MIS-C two-eight weeks after exposure to the coronavirus. They have symptoms like high fever for three or more days. No other cause is being able to explain that kind of fever. In most cases, CRP and ESR (markers of inflammation) are high. When we conduct a Covid antibody test on the patient, it mostly comes positive.”