A mother whose child was hospitalized after developing multisystemic inflammatory syndrome related to coronavirus in children (MIS-C) is warning others to be cautious with the disease if their child faces COVID-19 or is exposed to the virus.
“I felt helpless, I couldn’t do anything to help you,” said Amber Allen, from Nashville, of her 5-year-old son, Matthew, who was recently treated for an inflammatory disease at Monroe Carrel Junior Children’s Hospital in Vanderbilt.
Children with MIS-C usually have a fever, as well as symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, skin rash, red eyes and fatigue. (iStock)
“Her feet, knees and hands were swollen and I knew something else was wrong,” she told the local newspaper WKRN.
“His health started to get worse,” she added, noting that Matthew needed hospitalization for five nights and six days. He is now recovering, however.
POSSIBLE DEATH OF MIS-C CONNECTED TO CORONAVIRUS OF THE LOUISIANA CHILD THE FIRST IN THE STATE
MIS-C causes inflammation in different parts of the body, namely the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. It has been compared to Kawasaki disease, which causes swelling in arteries throughout the body, although the two conditions are not the same.
Children with MIS-C usually have a fever, as well as symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, red eyes and fatigue.
Experts do not know exactly what causes MIS-C at the moment, but have identified it as a syndrome associated with COVID-19. Most children who develop MIS-C were previously sick with COVID-19 or had been exposed to someone with the virus.
SERIOUS INFLAMMATORY CONDITION RELATED TO CORONAVIRUS AMONG CHILDREN REPORTED IN ADULTS: CDC
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been several reports of the syndrome, with the majority of cases occurring in children. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in October identified the condition among adults, based on reports from 27 adult patients to describe a similar new condition known as Adult Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-A).
“The results indicate that adult patients of all ages with current or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection may develop a hyperinflamatory syndrome similar to MIS-C,” wrote the authors at the time, adding that measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 can help prevent MIS -UMA.
Fox News’s Kayla Rivas contributed to this report.