Undoubtedly the world and our nation have left no stone unturned in dealing with the crisis and are continuing so, it seems there’s a lot more to see in the upcoming days. After Coronavirus, Mucormycosis, White fungus, now there’s one more syndromic disease noticed in children, and the disease is named as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children abbreviated as (MIS-C).
What is MIS-C?
Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome is a serious condition most likely noticed in children who have recovered from the Chinese virus. This syndromic disease was to date found in studies and the rare one was found in one child at a hundred thousand (lakh). The cases of the same were found in western countries.
What are the symptoms seen in affected children?
Nowadays, children are diagnosed with symptoms normally normal but leading to an abnormal ailment MIS-C. The symptoms found are:
- Reddish eyes
- Tongue turning extreme red
- Inflammation in multiple organs
- Pus-filled pimples
- Water is filled up in various organs; the stomach, etc.
The said syndrome is also known as Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome (PIMS). It occurs in less than 0.5% of children who have (or who have had) COVID-19. Experts say this ailment is usually detected in children who have recovered from the deadly virus for 4 to 6 weeks.
What causes the syndrome to affect the body?
As said earlier, this syndrome is very rare was only found in studies. The antibodies created in the human body after defeating the deadly virus are the main cause of children getting affected with the rare syndrome.
Usually, the anti-body created in children is hyperactive and it shows its effects on each cell. And this criterion instead of guarding the body backfires and damages the cells in a way.
Due to such abnormal changes, the child suffers from high fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, tongue, lips, and eyes turning red.
To detect this rarest one, the child has to undergo various tests, including the COVID Anti-body test, D-dimer test, Ferritin test, LDH test, CBC test, and the Inflammatory marker reports. If the child isn’t suffering from any other ailment/ disorder is checked while conducting the tests.
What do doctors say?
Numerous experts and doctors say once the child undergoes the COVID Anti-body test the history come out clear whether the child suffered from the deadly virus or not and surprisingly almost 50% of them say that the children who did not have any COVID symptoms earlier even tested positive for the MIS-C detection test.
On asking parents, 50% of them confirmed that their children did not have suffered from COVID-19 in the past but still tested positive for the Anti-body test with a proportion scoring 200-250 which proves that maximum children suffer from the coronavirus but because being asymptomatic does not come into the light.
Experts say the rare syndrome MIS-C affects mostly the children aging from 5 to 15 years.
What is Tocilizumab?
Tocilizumab is also known as Atlizumab, is an immunosuppressive drug mainly used for treating rheumatoid arthritis and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (a severe form of arthritis) in children.
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As the cases of MIS-C are rapidly upsurging in the nation, the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) forwarded guidelines for the same.
The guidelines included once the syndrome is detected, injections namely IVIg injections should be given in the treatment which is prepared from the antibodies created from the human blood.
Each injection costs around Rs 10,000-17,000. For the dosage, it is advisable to give 2gms/kg. Along with it, Methylprednisolone steroid is to be given with the dosage of 10-30mgs/kg. Maximum 1gm/day is advisable to inject.
If after 3 dosages of the said drugs does not turn effective than once again IVIg (Intravenous immunoglobulin) injections are repeated and as the last sort, Tocilizumab is advised to inject to the patient.
What difficulties do children face after diagnosing with the rare syndrome MIS-C?
After diagnosing the syndrome, the children go through unexpected hardships like
- Fever for more than 3 days
- Diarrhea and vomiting
- Limbs get inflamed
- The water level rises in the stomach
- Lever get inflamed
- Low blood pressure
- Tongue, lips, and eyes turn red
- Pus-filled pimples
- Marks on body
The new hurdles coming the way to victor over the biggest crisis of the planet may feel many at the moment but with the optimistic approach, every mountain can be surmounted. The difficulties may be too much at the moment for the nation but not that much that can let down the hunger for victory over this period.
[author title=”Shreya Gohel” image=”http://localhost/gc2/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/20210127_014031.jpg”]Journalist, Goa Chronicle
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