Covid reaction: Some Mumbai kids get Kawasaki-like disorder

MUMBAI: A three-year-old girl from Vashi could be the latest child in Greater Mumbai to develop a rare inflammatory condition associated with exposure to Covid-19 infection.
Called the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, it made world headlines in May when kids in the US and Europe started developing symptoms similar to a rare ailment called the Kawasaki Disease (see box).

The Vashi child, who had fever and had been vomiting for two days, was tested for common infections such as typhoid and dengue fever.
Pediatrician Dr Vijay Yewale, who treated the child, said, “We soon realized she had a severe inflammation that had resulted in fluid accumulation in different parts of her body.” Her heart wasn’t pumping too well and all her blood-related parameters were affected.
As she would need ICU care, she was transferred to Apollo Hospital in Nerul the next day. “Although her parents claimed none of them had fever in the past few weeks, we suspected the child’s condition was related to Covid-19 and conducted a test,” said the doctor.
The test (real-time polymerase chain reaction) was negative but an antibody test for Covid showed positive results. “This syndrome is usually seen in children two or more weeks after a Covid infection. So, the PCR test would show negative, but the antibody test showed exposure to the virus,” said Dr Yewale.
She was put in the ICU, given special medicines such as immunoglobulins and steroids, and is now ready for discharge. Her father, a fruit and vegetable seller from Vashi, said he has been talking to her on video calls. “She is fine and doctors said she can be discharged,’’ he said.
In Maharashtra, almost 21,000 of the two lakh Covid-19 patients were aged under 20 years.
Dr Tanu Singhal, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Kokilaben Hospital in Andheri, said she has seen two children—a 14-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy—with the disorder. “The girl had very high fever for two days and rash on her hands,” said Dr Singhal. She was in the normal ward for two days, but on the third day her fever rose to 104 and blood pressure dropped. Her coronary arteries seemed dilated.
Doctors in a handful of other private hospitals too have seen one case each of the Kawasaki-like disorder among children. A doctor in Sion Hospital, though, said there have been no cases in public hospitals so far.
“There is no reason to panic. If the symptoms are recognised in time, the condition can be easily treated,’’ said Dr Singhal. It mainly affects children over eight years of age and is characterized by fever, abdominal pain and pink eyes.
On Monday, state advisor Subhash Salunkhe requested the government to set up pediatric Covid units as children too face a risk.