MIS-C Hitting Children More Severely In The Second Wave
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-06-09 13:09:38
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
As the second wave of coronavirus recedes in India and experts predict that a third wave will hit sooner or later which is expected to target children (although AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria today said that there is no evidence of that), the Centre and the states have begun preparing for pediatric Covid wards and readying other equipment and infrastructure that will be needed to cater to younger patients. But amidst the several post-Covid ailments (like fungus of many varieties, for example) that have cropped up to add to the woes of the people, a child-specific ailment has already started causing alarm.
Multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is an immunological reaction to Covid infection in children that causes heart impairment but can also affect the kidneys. Although it was noticed in the first wave too, the severity of MIS-C is more acute in the second wave. It usually strikes 2-6 weeks after infection and the symptoms include high fever, red eyes, skin rashes, shock, hypotension, respiratory distress, abdominal pain, swelling in the neck and diarrhea. If MIS-C occurs it means the child has already been exposed to Covid. If the child was not tested it means that he or she was asymptomatic.
Doctors all over India have said that in the first wave too MIS-C cases started coming in at the end in November and December 2020. They say that since the second wave cases have just started coming in after the peak, they fear that given the ferocity of the current wave, there will be many more cases of the ailment reported over the next few weeks. Doctors also say that while some of the classical symptoms are absent this time, the severity of the ailment has increased with more children requiring intensive care this time. Some doctors also found teenagers with adult-like pneumonia, a thing which was rarely witnessed in the first wave.
pic courtesy: modified from a pic on outlookindia.com
