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Focus on Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome high-risk groups in children

02 Sep 2021

  • 50 children with post-Covid-19 disease at present
By Pamodi Waravita The Health Ministry is currently looking into the post-Covid-19 disease, known as the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Temporally Associated With Covid-19 (MIS-C), to identify those who would be most at risk due to it, Ministry of Health Communications Director Dr. Hemantha Herath told The Morning yesterday (2). According to paediatricians, MIS-C can affect anyone between the ages of one and 20 years, and is more commonly observed in children between the ages of eight and 15 years. The symptoms that parents should more carefully watch out for are vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, conjunctivitis, and skin rash. It is a multi-systems disease that has the potential to affect multiple systems in the body, including the liver, kidneys, heart, and eyes. Speaking to The Morning yesterday, Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians Secretary Dr. Channa de Silva said that the country has currently identified about 50 children with MIS-C. “About one in 5,000 children who get infected with the Covid-19 virus get MIS-C. As we are seeing more numbers of children getting infected these days, the cases of MIS-C have also risen,” noted Dr. de Silva. He added that MIS-C develops about two to six weeks after the child recovers from Covid-19, and is considered to be a result of the exaggerated reaction to the immune response generated in the body after the virus. Therefore, parents must monitor symptoms such as prolonged diarrhoea, severe abdominal pain, vomiting, red eyes, and a reddish swelling of the tongue. The Morning reported this week that a two-month-old baby is currently receiving Intensive Care Unit (ICU) treatment for MIS-C, while three other children were reported as undergoing ICU treatment for the same last week. Doctors at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children (LRH) have stated that the hospital is struggling with the growing number of children getting infected with Covid-19. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that the Delta (B.1.617.2) Covid-19 variant of Indian origin is at least two times as transmissible as the original virus. Sri Lanka is currently facing a severe spread of the Delta variant in all districts. The Health Promotion Bureau (HPB) said that 3,828 new cases and 215 deaths were reported on 1 September due to the virus.


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