Odisha warns parents of MI syndrome in Covid recovered children

After 117 more children were found infected with coronravirus on Thursday, the Odisha government warned parents that recovered Covid-19 patients in the age group of 0 to 10 years are more susceptible to Multi-system Inflammatory MI syndrome.MI syndrome in children is a condition in which various body parts such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin and eyes can become inflamed.

After 117 more children were found infected with coronavirus on Thursday, the Odisha government warned parents that recovered Covid-19 patients in the age group of 0 to 10 years are more susceptible to Multi-system Inflammatory (MI) syndrome.

MI syndrome in children is a condition in which various body parts such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, and eyes can become inflamed. ''Children aged below 10 years, after recovering from Covid-19 infection, are now more susceptible to MI syndrome. They develop it around one month of their recovery,'' Director of Public Health Niranjan Mishra said.

Of the 771 new COVID-19 cases, 117 are in the age group of 0 to 18 years.

"Presently, many children are suffering from MI syndrome and are being hospitalized. They complain of headaches, diarrhea, and vomiting.

Parents should be aware that it is a post-covid complication. They need to consult doctors,'' Mishra said.

He said the MI syndrome in COVID-19 recovered children aged between 0 and 10 years has increased in the second wave of the pandemic. The rate of coronavirus infection among children on Thursday stands at 15.17 percent of the total 771 new cases. It was 13.38 percent on Wednesday, 14.57 percent on Tuesday, and 20.03 percent on Monday, according to health department data.

Odisha's current positivity rate stands at 1.18 percent as 771 people tested positive for the infection out of 65,037 samples. Khurda district, of which the state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, recorded the highest 327 new cases followed by Cuttack (71), an official in the health department said.

Odisha's COVID-19 caseload now rose to 10,14,338 while eight fresh fatalities took the death toll to 8,078.

The state now has 7,042 active cases while 9,99,165 patients including 574 on Wednesday, have recovered from the disease, the official said.

Odisha has so far conducted over 1.86 crore sample tests including 67,037 on Wednesday. The state has so far administered 2,45,90,338 doses of COVID-19 vaccines that included 60,85,252 beneficiaries who received both doses.