NEW DELHI: Data from the Indian Academy of Pediatric Intensive Care said that over 100 cases of multi-organ inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) have been reported in northern India in the last week. The sudden surge in MIS-C cases has been observed typically in post-COVID patients, mostly between 4 to 18 years of age. However, some rare cases of MIS-C affecting six months old babies have also been reported.
MIS is a condition in which different body parts become inflamed. According to Dr Dhiren Gupta, COVID Specialist and Paediatric Pulmonologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, MIS-C can affect all organs including the lungs, kidney, brain, skin, and eyes. However, if one recognises the symptoms at an early stage, the patients can be treated well in time. He added that out of the 120 patients of the MIS recorded last year, all recovered except one.
Symptoms of MIS-C include fever for three to five days, severe abdominal pain, sudden drop in blood pressure and loose motions. Dr Gupta said that MIS-C requires early treatment before it becomes hypotensive and the patient’s blood pressure drops. Within seven to 10 days, patients are discharged and this applies to 90 per cent of the patients. In 10 per cent of the patients, where the kidney and liver get affected, recovery takes time.
Health experts have warned that MIS-C can also prove to be deadly if not taken proper care of, essentially because any disease affecting the heart, lungs, and brain can be deadly. Dr Gupta stressed that as doctors and as parents, everyone needs to understand that fever at this time in any child needs to be watched cautiously, because symptoms of MIS-C mimic other illnesses, thereby increasing the risk of misdiagnosis, especially in rural areas.