A mother whose son was hospitalized after developing coronavirus-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), warns others to be wary of the condition if their child fights COVID-19 or to the virus is exposed.
“I felt helpless, I could do nothing to help him,” said Amber Allen, of Nashville, about her 5-year-old son Matthew, who was recently treated for the inflammatory condition at Monroe Carrel Junior Children’s Hospital in Vanderbilt.
Children with MIS-C often have fever, as well as symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes and fatigue. (iStock)
“His feet and his knees and his hands were all swollen and I just knew something was wrong,” she told local news agency WKRN.
“His health was just beginning to decline,” she added, noting that Matthew had to be hospitalized for five nights and six days. However, he is recovering now.
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MIS-C causes inflammation in various parts of the body, namely the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. It has been compared to Kawasaki disease, which causes swelling in the arteries in the body, although the two conditions are not the same.
Children with MIS-C often have fever, as well as symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes and fatigue.
Experts do not know exactly what is causing MIS-C at the moment, but have identified it as a syndrome associated with COVID-19. Most children who develop MIS-C have previously been ill with COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone with the virus.
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Since the pandemic began, there have been various reports of the syndrome, most of which occur in children. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in October identified the condition among adults and is based on reports from 27 adult patients to describe a new similar condition, known as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults (MIS-A). .
“Findings suggest that adult patients of all ages with current or past SARS-CoV-2 infection may develop a hyperinflammatory syndrome similar to MIS-C,” the authors wrote at the time, adding that measures to reduce COVID-19 distribution limiting can help prevent MIS. -A.
Foxla’s Kayla Rivas contributed to this report.