What’s it like for kids with COVID-linked inflammatory syndrome? A trip ‘through hell’
A rare condition linked to COVID-19 has hospitalized more than 500 children nationwide — at least 10 of whom have died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For the hundreds who survived, what did it take to recover?
“He went through hell,” Theresa Lawson said of her 14-year-old son Anthony, who was hospitalized with MIS-C in Washington, the “Today” show reported. “He said there were moments that he wanted to quit.”
The CDC first warned of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, in May after nearly 40 children in New York City were hospitalized. Early reports suggested the syndrome was something of a crossover between Kawasaki disease and toxic shock. Symptoms of MIS-C include fever, rash, stomach or neck pain, shock, bloodshot eyes and inflammation, according to the CDC, and it typically develops two to four weeks after a child has been infected with the coronavirus.
Hospitals have reported 529 cases of MIS-C in children between the ages of 2 weeks and 20 years as of July 29, according to an August report published by the CDC. About 40% were Hispanic or Latino and 33% were Black, according to the report.
Here are some of those children’s stories.
High fever, ‘intense belly aches’
A 5-year-old girl in Polk County, Florida, was hospitalized with a 105-degree fever and “intense belly aches,” WFTV reported.
Lexanni Perez’s mom told the TV station her daughter’s first test for COVID-19 came back negative. It took four days for the hospital to diagnose her daughter with MIS-C.
The 5-year-old is one of 34 cases in Florida, WFTV reported.
“When doctors were doing their rounds, and they would say, 5-year-old girl presenting heart failure and cardiac failure, I almost had to hold onto the railings every time because I just didn’t understand how we got here,” Shanta Perez told the station. “Just seeing your child there in a hospital bed. It’s just … hopeless.”
Lexanni “has since recovered and was able to be released from the hospital,” according to WFTV.
Lungs filled with fluid
Levi Nobles, 7, was taken to his pediatrician in May after several days of vomiting and a high fever, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The doctor was concerned his symptoms were related to COVID-19 after hearing reports of children with MIS-C and advised his mother, 29-year-old Hannah Peck, to take him to the hospital, according to the newspaper.
Levi’s symptoms progressed once he was hospitalized. He had severe abdominal pain, his small intestine was inflamed, his lungs had filled with fluid and he developed pneumonia, the Free Press reported.
“Every day was something new, and I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Peck told the newspaper. “Thank God that ... I took him (to the hospital) when I did because if I would have waited any longer or if the doctor would have said, ‘Oh, it’s just a stomach bug. Go home,’ I don’t know where we would be right now.”
His tests for the coronavirus came back negative, but the Free Press reported an antibody test showed Levi had the virus at some point.
The 7-year-old was discharged from the hospital after nearly a week and has returned to “Zoom calls with his classmates and teacher, playing video games and outside, too,” according to the newspaper. But he still has some follow-up appointments “to ensure there are no complications.”
No underlying health conditions
Wyatt Talianicich was diagnosed with MIS-C just before his 16th birthday, The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi, reported.
His mother, Stephanie Talianiacich, told the newspaper he had no underlying health conditions but suddenly started feeling bad with a cough in May. His father took him to the hospital shortly thereafter, where they diagnosed him with pneumonia, gave him antibiotics and sent him home, according to The Sun Herald.
Wyatt was back in the hospital with low blood pressure and failing kidneys only a few days later, the newspaper reported. He was hallucinating and put on a ventilator.
Though his COVID-10 tests repeatedly came back negative, doctors diagnosed him with MIS-C.
Wyatt was released from the hospital after 12 days, The Sun Herald reported in a July update. Stephanie Talianiacich told the newspaper her son had finished physical therapy “and is back to normal.”
“The only outward signs of his illness are stretch marks on his arms, back and sides from rapid swelling the disease caused,” according to the newspaper.
Put on a ventilator
Jorden Hutchin spent a month in Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Westchester with MIS-C after his family tested positive for the coronavirus, NBC New York reported.
The 8-year-old was hospitalized in July with a high fever and trouble breathing, according to the TV station.
Doctors subsequently put him on a ventilator and heart machine. Jorden then had heart surgery and spent 28 days recovering.
“I was worried that I might pass,” he told NBC.
Jorden’s doctor, Dr. Diana Haddad, told the TV station his experience was “very frightening.”
“Every single day was so critical but never once did we lose hope because [the family] never lost hope in us,” she said, according to NBC New York.
‘IVs coming from his neck’
A 6-year-old in Philadelphia was quarantined with MIS-C at a hospital last week after he tested positive for the coronavirus in July, WPVI reported.
Jaiden Coulter is one of 40 MIS-C cases in the state, according to the TV station.
“They had to put breathing tubes down this throat, IVs coming from his neck, his arms,” Jaiden’s mother, Felicia Mincey, told WPVI. “They came into his room every three minutes, it was just a lot.”
Mincey also had COVID-19.
She told the TV station Jaiden had no health conditions growing up and the experience has been “an eye opener.” He was still hospitalized as of Aug. 11 but “feeling better,” WPVI reported.
Itchy eyes, headache, vomiting
Anthony Lawson was discharged from a hospital in Seattle after an uphill battle with MIS-C just days before his 14th birthday, the “Today” show reported.
He got sick in late April and was one of the first 80 cases of MIS-C in the U.S., according to the TV show.
Anthony had itchy eyes and a headache but soon started “vomiting regularly,” “Today” reported. He was taken to the hospital with a rash and fever, at which point he was reportedly experiencing cardiac and kidney failure.
The then 13-year old was hospitalized for two weeks with organ failure, sepsis, cardiac arrest, toxic shock syndrome and hallucinations, according to the outlet. Once he returned home, he was taking 16 pills a day and relying on a wheelchair “because he’d get dizzy and easily exhausted.”
“Every organ in his body went through damage,” his mother, Theresa Lawson, told “Today.”
Anthony was in physical therapy at the time the show’s article was published in July. He was also returning to the hospital to meet with specialists — a routine expected to “continue for another year.” A neurologist was also added to the team to evaluate what effect MIS-C had on Anthony’s brain.
“I pray to God that that this is a one-off thing, not just for us but for all these kids,” Lawson told “Today.” “The hardest part is I’m never going to get any answers. ... We can’t say say, ‘We’re safe now,’ or ‘We’re less exposed.’”
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 3:40 PM with the headline "What’s it like for kids with COVID-linked inflammatory syndrome? A trip ‘through hell’."
