Coimbatore: Doctors at ESI hospital save Child who developed rare Covid complication.
Coimbatore: There are numerous challenges faced by the health care sector in this current pandemic situation. Currently, the health care centers and doctors are focussed on protecting the vulnerable sector and their post Covid care.Adding to the existing challenges, is Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome(MIS-C), a serious complication of Covid-19 which has thus far, affected over 1,000 children globally.
While the emergence of the MIS-C in Covid affected children is yet to be studied, following cases in Chennai and Mumbai, recently over 7 children with MIS-C were reported in Coimbatore. With one fatality, the Doctors at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) have successfully treated 6 children diagnosed with MIS-C, using life-saving immunoglobulin injections, costing over a lakh per injection.
Seconding the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, a National Public Health Institute in the United States, which claims there is no clear study on how this rare yet severe syndrome affects children below 12 years, Dr. Booma, Chief of Pediatrics department at CMCH said that "Close to seven MIS-C cases between age group 1 to 13 years have been reported across Coimbatore, in the past week. All affected children were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin, which costs around 60,000 to 1 lakh with advanced intensive care support."
"All seven children, when tested had developed antibodies, which means they were infected with Covid,” Dr. Booma said.
In a recent positive development, a 10-year-old girl diagnosed with MIS-C from Tirupur, admitted at the ESI hospital here, was successfully treated and discharged.
Speaking to us, the mother of the 10-year-old girl said that her child initially developed mild fever which gradually worsened. "As the fever did not subside with medications, we had admitted herto a private hospital in Coimbatore where she was diagnosed with Covid-19. The doctors said that her condition was worsening and her vitals were dropping to an alarming state."
"Due to financial issues, on October 25 we decided to shift her to ESI Hospital. The doctors there examined her condition and diagnosed her to have developed MIS-C, a rare Covid-19 complication. They explained that she would require life-saving injections worth several lakhs", she told.
"Right from the admission day, the team of doctors and support staff took excellent care of my child who was in a very critical state. Her lips had cracks, reddish eyes, feeble body, burning temperature, swollen extremities -- such was the state of my child at the time of admission at ESI", the mother recalled.
She told how doctors and nurses at ESI would stretch an extra mile to ensure the availability of life-saving immunoglobulin injections administered intravenous, costing over 1.5 lakhs per day.
"On a daily basis, we saw steady progress in our child's health. The doctors duly apprised us of the ongoing treatment and her health status", informed the mother.
The child has now recovered completely from MIS-C and was discharged on November 4 from ESI hospital. The mother of the child who was at loss of words said that they were ever thankful to the entire team of doctors and nurses at ESI Hospital for helping their child recover fully, within a short span of time.
Commending the efforts, Dean Nirmala highly appreciated the efforts of the Doctors -- Suganthi, Krithika, Uma Shankar and Bhuvanesh for timely intervention and treatment.
Doctors opine that parents should not ignore if their child experiences symptoms like high fever, extreme fatigue, diarrhea, red eyes, inflammation in extremities. They should seek immediate medical help, as delayed diagnosis could turn fatal.