Rise in MIS-C among children in SL

By Pamodi Waravita

Reports of the post-Covid-19 “Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome In Children Temporally Associated With Covid-19” (MIS-C) has been on the rise from around the island, with five children currently receiving treatment for it at the intensive care units (ICUs) at Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children (LRH).

Speaking to The Morning yesterday (17), LRH Consultant Paediatric Intensivist Dr. Nalin Kithulwatta said that reports of MIS-C are increasing, with the LRH ICUs currently treating five children for it.

Addressing the media, Dr. Kithulwatta noted that the LRH has recorded deaths of four children due to MIS-C, two of whom had died last week.

“Altogether we have treated approximately 200 children at the LRH for MIS-C, of which 80 children required ICU treatment,” he added.

According to pediatricians, MIS-C can affect anyone between the ages of one and 20, and is more commonly observed in children between the ages of eight and 15. The symptoms that parents should carefully watch out for are vomiting, diarrhea, 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.

 The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians Secretary Dr. Channa De Silva has stated that about one in 5,000 children who get infected with the Covid-19 virus get MIS-C.

Dr. De Silva said that MIS-C is developed about two to six weeks after the child recovers from Covid-19 and is thought of as 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 diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, vomiting, red eyes, and a red swelling of the tongue.