Janiya Johnson (5) of Portage, Indiana, was diagnosed a few months ago with multiple-system inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C.
MIS-C is a rare condition that is diagnosed, which usually occurs four to six weeks after a child is exposed to COVID-19. Janiya feels better now, but her parents say she was happy when she was diagnosed.
“The doctor may have told us if we waited another day, she might not be able to do anything for her. So this is a scary moment,” said Oshunda Johnson, her mother.
Janiya’s family never even knew she had COVID. She later tested positive for antibodies. Her symptoms included vomiting, fever, stomach and neck pain, and her kidneys and liver began to weaken.
“She’s full of energy. She’s just getting ready to go,” her father, Johnathan Johnson, said. “And it was just different when she wanted to go to bed and go to sleep.”
She was eventually diagnosed at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, where she ended up in a critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit.
“Many of these children need intensive care management in one of our children’s ICUs,” said Dr. Frank Belmonte, chief medical officer at Advocate Children’s Hospital, said. “They need IV fluids. Many of them need steroids or other anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the inflammation.”
With anti-inflammatory drugs and other remedies, Janiya has fully recovered. Her family and their doctors are now warning others about this condition which is affecting minorities excessively.
“We know that about a third of the children who get it are of Latinx origin, and about a third are of African-American descent. Therefore, we want the communities to be very aware of it,” said Dr. Belmonte said.
About 2,000 children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with MIS-C. Much is still unknown about MIS-C, including why Janiya and other children became ill, and others did not.
Copyright © 2021 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.