Coronavirus: Infant critical with MIS-C, paediatricians urged to be on alert

A 12-month-old boy is in critical but stable condition at Makarios hospital in Nicosia after being diagnosed with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children (MIS-C), according to the hospital’s chief of paediatrics Avram Elias.

Two more children, aged 9 and 12, are hospitalised with the same condition at Makarios hospital.

Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC, Elias said that MIS-C can be considered a complication of Covid-19 and urged paediatricians to remain alert in order to spot signs before the disease becomes more aggressive.

“The 12-months-old boy’s health condition remains critical but stable. Should his condition further improve on Monday or Tuesday, he could even be taken off the ventilator, but we will have to assess the situation first,” he said.

Elias added that the symptoms of MIS-C start appearing two to six weeks after the children become ill with coronavirus and that the disease carries the risk of infecting vital organs.

At the same time Elias revealed that four other children are being treated for coronavirus at the same hospital — a new-born, a nine-year-old, a five-month-old and a 14-year-old.

MIS-C is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.

Recently, a number of children around the world who caught MIS-C had been around someone with Covid-19, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“MIS-C can be serious, even deadly, but most children who were diagnosed with this condition have got better with medical care,” the CDC says on its website.