Five more minors in Taiwan have been diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) after contracting COVID-19, bringing the total number of those with MIS-C to eight, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday.
The new MIS-C cases consisted of four boys and one girl, aged between 2 and 10 years old, who tested positive for the disease over one month ago, Lo Yi-chun (???), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said at Saturday’s COVID-19 press briefing.
They tested positive between the end of April and the middle of May, and were all considered mild cases, Lo said.
However, three to four weeks after contracting COVID-19, they developed MIS-C symptoms, including persistent fever, vomiting, diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes and throat redness, Lo said.
At present, the condition of all five have improved with one discharged from hospital, while the other four are still undergoing treatment in hospital, Lo said.
According to CECC statistics, the number of children aged 12 and under who have been classified as severe cases is 49, including 18 involving encephalitis, nine pneumonia, eight MIS-C, four laryngotracheobronchitis, and three sepsis.
Lo reminded parents that if their child exhibits persistent fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, rash, bloodshot eyes, dizziness and other related symptoms within six weeks of getting COVID-19, then it was likely that might be MIS-C.
The syndrome is more common in children between the ages of 6 and 12, but is also found in those as young as 2 or 4 years old or even as old as 19, Lo said.
“The risk of children getting MIS-C can be reduced by more than 90 percent with just one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine,” Lo said.
Lu Chun-yi (???), a pediatrician at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), said parents were urged to remain vigilant as more MIS-C cases may appear within the next month.
Based on statistics from overseas, the United States saw 8,525 MIS-C cases between May 2021 and May 2022, of which 69 people died, Lu said.
Usually, MIS-C cases peak after a peak of new COVID-19 cases, Lu added.
Another study from New York showed that the incidence of MIS-C is about 316 per million with incidence slightly higher in blacks, Hispanics and Asians, which may be related to genes, Lu said.
With Taiwan having had 520,000 COVID-19 cases among adolescents and children since January, there may be as many as 167 MIS-C cases in the next month, Lu said.
Chiu Shuenn-nan (???), a pediatric cardiologist at NTUH, said international studies had found that the risk of myocarditis in children after COVID-19 infection was not high, but there was a higher chance once MIS-C occurred.
About 7-18 percent of myocarditis cases occur in MIS-C cases, usually with severe symptoms including chest pain and shortness of breath, Chiu said.
Some may also experience fulminant myocarditis, shock, fainting or sudden death, Chiu said, adding that vaccination against COVID-19 remains the primary preventive tool.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel