SANTIAGO (Reuters) – When doctors realized Lorena Navarrete’s son had a rare COVID-19 complication affecting some children, it was too late to save his 16-year-old Emilio.
Lorena, a single mother living in the southern Chilean city of Puerto Montt, told TVN that her music-loving and sociable son died about a week after she first complained of hearing -are tired and sore in the legs in late January.
Within days he had developed livid spots on his skin, high fever, vomiting, and dark urine.
Doctors at the city hospital, plagued by severe cases of COVID, tested him repeatedly to detect COVID, but with negative results they lost what was happening to him.
By the time his illness was identified as a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, it was too late. Lorena could not be on the edge of her son’s bed due to strict health protocols, but a social worker called to convey the message that her son loved her dearly. He asked the social worker to tell his son that he would see him soon and that his pets were fine.
“One doctor said that if I had faith, I should pray because my son was very sick,” said Navarrete, who works as a technical nurse. “They had a diagnosis and it was PIMS.”
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), as it is more commonly known as PIMS, is a rare and life-threatening syndrome related to COVID-19.
It usually appears two to six weeks after infection, even in asymptomatic cases of COVID-19.
It shares symptoms with toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, including fever, rash, swollen glands, conjunctivitis, and in severe cases, heart inflammation, and can cause multiple organ failure. It is not always fatal if caught and treated prematurely.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in January that it was investigating whether COVID variants increased the number or severity of cases after anecdotal reports from some states.
Dr. Loreto Twele, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Puerto Montt Hospital, said catching it was like putting together a puzzle.
“There is not a single exam. The pieces need to be put together to be able to make an early diagnosis and start treatment, ”he said.
Chilean public health chief Paula Daza told a media briefing on Monday that of the 69,563 confirmed cases of COVID in children so far in Chile, 157 cases of MIS-C have been reported. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
“The rate of cases of children with these conditions is quite low, however, health professionals need to be alert,” he said.
For Lorena, Emilio’s mother, the pain of losing her only child is partly helped by the knowledge that she can raise awareness.
“I don’t want Emilio’s death to be in vain and this to be known so that other parents don’t go through the same thing,” he said.
Written by Aislinn Laing and Fabian Cambero; Edited by Lisa Shumaker