Doctors are STILL missing key signs of fatal condition that strikes kids weeks after Covid
SYMPTOMS of a serious illness in kids who tested positive for Covid are still being missed by doctors.
Parents have issued warnings about the illness that strikes children weeks after they often bounce back from Covid.
Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome (PIMS) is a very rare condition, occurring in less than 1 per cent of kids who pick up the bug.
Only around one to five out of 100,000 who then develop it need to be admitted to hospital.
But it is still striking healthy children around four to six weeks after having the virus.
And often, as the symptoms mean it could be confused with something else, doctors are missing the key signs.
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Symptoms can include a prolonged fever, tummy ache, diarrhoea, vomiting, widespread red rash, red bloodshot eyes, strawberry red tongue, red cracked lips.
Others include swelling of fingers and toes or not feeling or acting like themselves.
Thousands of parents have clubbed together online to raise awareness in the public and medics, after claiming their children were not accurately diagnosed.
The Covid-19 PIMS-TS support group was set up in October 2020, to help speed up diagnosis.
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Symptoms of PIMS
The main symptom of PIMS, according to Great Ormond Street Hospital, is:
- a high temperature that lasts for a few days.
Your child might also have other symptoms such as:
- A rash
- Tiredness and weakness
- Tummy pain or cramps
- Red and cracked lips
- Swollen hands and feet
- Peeling skin on your hands and feet
- Headache
- Red eyes
- Muscle aches and pains
- Diarrhoea and vomiting
- Swollen neck glands
- Unexplained irritability
These symptoms are different to the coronavirus, which causes:
- a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
- a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
Fatigue, a headache, sore throat and loss of appetite are also common in children with Covid, according to the Zoe COVID Symptom Study app
a survey by the group found most cases are misdiagnosed at least once.
Support group spokeswoman Joanna Buckmaster said: “It is not good enough for people to be left to find out about PIMS-TS, they need to be told.
"Despite the wonderful efforts of NHS staff, misdiagnosis sadly still occurs.”
In December we told how little Cooper Hayton became critically ill from the rare side effect of the virus.
Four weeks after testing positive, the 11-year-old developed a fever, stopped eating and complained of pain in his torso.
Cooper's high temperature continued and he developed a blotchy rash over his body, his face became swollen and he had deep red lips and bloodshot eyes.
Thankfully Cooper recovered after three nights of antibiotics, 24 hours of immunoglobulins and three nights of steroids to suppress his immune system in hospital.
Children who go into intensive care with the condition can still have brain fog, fatigue and changes in appetite.
Great Ormond Street Hospital advises: “PIMS can affect your mind as well as your body so be aware of your mood once you get back home. It’s normal to feel anxious, moody and irritable.
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"This is down to PIMS as well as the everyday disruption that Covid-19 has brought to everyone.
"Take your time to recover and don’t try to do too much at the start – gradually build up how much you do and don’t feel bad if you have ‘bad’ days as well as ‘good’ days.”
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