A rare and mysterious disease known as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C, has been impacting children with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
While rare, the syndrome can be very serious and is caused by COVID-19 and doctors say that the number of cases is rising.
The syndrome bears some similarities to other inflammatory conditions but is a new condition. It caused serious concerns among parents and pediatricians early on in the pandemic.
“The important thing to remember about MIS-C is that this is not caused by an active COVID infection, it’s not caused by virus circulating in the body,” explained Dr. Erica Lawson, a pediatric rheumatologist at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. “It’s really caused by immune dysregulation, an abnormal immune response to the COVID-19 virus that is delayed.”
There have been just over 2,000 cases nationwide since the start of the pandemic and 30 deaths, and much has been learned about MIS-C.
It typically surfaces between two to six weeks after a COVID infection.
“We are seeing that this syndrome can occur even in children who’ve had completely asymptomatic infection,” Dr. Lawson explained. “There does not appear to be any correlation between the severity of COVID-19 infection and the severity of MIS-C. In fact, children who develop severe COVID-19 would be very unlikely to develop a subsequent infection of MIS-C.”
The most common symptom is severe fever of about 101 degrees or higher, followed by gastrointestinal symptoms such as stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Children with MIS-C may also have redness in the eyes and an unusual rash.
MIS-C is most common in children aged five to 11 years old.
“If your child has mild symptoms at home, this is not something you need to be worrying about. Kids with MIS-C are really sick,” said Dr. Lawson.
Most children do recover.
“Generally the outcomes have been so far fairly encouraging. The caveat is that a lot of these children do get extremely ill,” she explained, and many need to be hospitalized.
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But immunosuppressant’s used to treat other conditions like Kawasaki’s disease have been found to be effective treatments and the syndrome – as well as severe cases of COVID-19 in children – continues to be exceedingly rare.
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