4 Children in S’pore Have Developed Serious Inflammatory Syndrome Due to COVID-19

Even after living with the virus for more than a year and a half, we’re still learning more and more things about it every day.

Different strains of the virus behave differently, and people have varying reactions to getting infected; some people don’t have any symptoms at all, while others experience severe symptoms like difficulty breathing.

Now, it seems that a few young COVID-19 patients have developed a rare condition that makes the body fight itself.

4 Children in S’pore Have Developed Serious Inflammatory Syndrome Due to COVID-19

Four children have developed paediatric Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome-COVID (MIS-C) after getting infected with COVID-19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement. 

These four cases were the only reported cases of MIS-C among the over 8,000 paediatric COVID-19 cases in Singapore since the start of the pandemic. It is considered rare, MOH said.

“Of these four cases, one is in the Children’s Intensive Care Unit (CICU), one is in a General Ward, and two have been discharged,” it added.

The first case is a three-year-old boy who was admitted to the National University Hospital (NUH) CICU on 16 October 2021.

He had repeatedly tested negative on PCR tests, but his serology test results indicated that he likely had a COVID-19 infection two to six weeks prior to the development of MIS-C. He has since recovered and was discharged on 23 October.

The second case is an eight-year-old boy who was admitted to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s (KKH) CICU on 27 October 2021. He had been previously diagnosed with COVID-19 infection on 30 September. He has since recovered and was discharged on 1 November.

The third case, a four-year-old boy, was admitted to KKH CICU on 1 November 2021. As of 6 November, the boy remains in the CICU and his breathing is supported by mechanical ventilation. He had previously tested positive for COVID-19 infection on 24 September. The KKH paediatric teams are actively managing his care, MOH said.

The last case is also the youngest – a two-month-old female infant. She was admitted to KKH General Ward on 3 November 2021 and was previously admitted to the same hospital for COVID-19 infection on 12 October. She was discharged on 19 October and her condition remains stable, with no oxygen requirements.

Symptoms 

According to the health ministry, MIS-C is similar in presentation to Kawasaki Disease (KD), which has been linked to various virus or bacterial infections, and occurs in 150 to 200 children a year in Singapore.

Symptoms of MIS-C include a persistent fever above 38.5°C for three days or more, difficulty breathing, headache, neck swelling, rash, swollen hands and feet, conjunctivitis, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain.

Last year, an international review from 26 countries found an MIS-C incidence of 0.14% (14 in 10,000) among all children with COVID-19 infection.

The good news is that MIS-C is a treatable condition, according to Hopkins Medicine. Most children recover fully from this illness, and with prompt attention, medicines can control the inflammation and help avoid lasting damage.

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