During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most misunderstood complications children were experiencing was MIS-C.
MIS-C, or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, is a condition in which different body parts can become inflamed — such as the heart, lungs, brain and kidneys — and is often seen in children after they are diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over the course of the pandemic, there have been 9,499 reported cases of MIS-C and 79 deaths, CDC data shows. Cases especially skyrocketed during the first year of the pandemic.
Since then, however, MIS-C cases have dropped dramatically and have almost disappeared entirely. Experts told ABC News they are not sure why this is but there are probably multiple reasons, including more children being immune to COVID-19, as well as newer variants causing less severe complications.
“It is definitely a medical mystery,” Dr. Elizabeth Schlaudecker, medical director of Cincinnati Children’s division of infectious diseases, told ABC News. “We haven’t figured it out yet. We’re still working on it.”
What is MIS-C and how is it treated?
MIS-C is an inflammatory condition that is caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It typically occurs between two to six weeks after infection and presents a combination of symptoms, including inflammation of various parts of the body along with gastrointestinal symptoms, rash and fever.
Doctors are unclear about what causes some children to develop MIS-C but believe it may involve a genetic predisposition for inflammation in response to respiratory diseases.
Most children with MIS-C end up hospitalized and, if they are sick enough, can spend time in intensive care units.
“It’s reassuring that for the most part kids do much, much better than adults when it comes to SARS-CoV-2 infection,” Dr. Samuel Dominguez, associate professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Colorado, told ABC News. “But there are a subset of kids who can have serious disease related to SARS-CoV-2, and probably the most severe for that is MIS-C.”
“These kids are gonna be very sick. Half of the kids that we saw ended up in our ICU and so I think that’s an important point that MIS-C definitely is not a benign disease,” Dr. Dominguez added.
There are several treatments for MIS-C including anti-inflammatory medications, as well as intravenous immunoglobulin, a therapy made up of antibodies to help fight infections and reduce inflammation.
