KSHB 41: Lenexa family recalls son's battle with MIS-C following his COVID-19 diagnosis

Smith Family

By JuYeon Kim

With the rise in COVID-19 cases, Kansas City pediatricians are worried about seeing an uptick in multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

MIS-C tends to rise and fall with the number of COVID-19 cases in communities and primarily targets children two to six weeks after they test positive for the virus.

Dr. Jennifer Schuster with Children’s Mercy says the hospital has treated more than 60 confirmed cases of MIS-C since the pandemic began. Staff went weeks without seeing new cases at the beginning of summer but have started seeing an uptick in the last few weeks.

She attributes this pattern to low vaccination rates in young people and looser COVID-19 safety restrictions.

“Unfortunately, many times, parents actually don’t suspect that this is MIS-C because they didn't know that their child had COVID-19 infection,” Dr. Schuster said.

MIS-C is a rare COVID-19 complication, but it can cause dangerous outcomes in children if left untreated. Dr. Schuster says this is why it is so important for parents to notice the signs early on.

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