MIS-C and COVID: Symptoms to look for in children

Children, MIS-C and COVID

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, is a condition where a child's body parts can become inflamed — including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. The CDC says many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID.

NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. - It's a rare inflammatory disease dubbed MIS-C, short for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

While doctors have been diagnosing it for less than two years, researchers at Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research are quickly learning more about how it presents itself — most times with swollen fingers or toes — and how it impacts kids.

A new study on pediatric COVID-19 patients found neurological and psychological complications are common in children after being hospitalized for COVID-19 or MIS-C.

The condition can be serious or even deadly and can cause inflammation in major organs, according to Dr. Sanjeev Kothare, Northwell Health's pediatric neurology director.

"MIS-C is a subset of COVID which happens in 10 to 20% of kids admitted to the ICU," he said. "After they were discharged, many of them started coming to see me for headaches, sleep problems, mood disturbances and brain fog."

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Doctors say MIS-C is most common in children between the ages of 5 and 13 but can impact infants and older teens.

Dr. James Schneider, the chief of pediatric critical care at Cohen Children's Medical Center, said the majority of children with MIS-C aren't vaccinated.

"Over the last two to three weeks, we've been seeing a significant number of children coming to our hospital with MIS-C and many have required care in the intensive unit," he said.

Doctors say parents must keep an eye out for symptoms, including swelling of the hands and feet, fever that lasts more than a day or two, and rashes — and then immediately take the child to a pediatrician for evaluation.

"This is something that needs to be treated and can only be treated in a hospital," Schneider said. "If untreated it can be dangerous."

The CDC has tracked just over 6,400 MIS-C cases and 55 deaths from the illness nationwide since the start of the pandemic.