New Delhi, Feb 22 : Last month, two-year-old Rahul (name changed) was rushed to Aakash Healthcare, a private hospital, after he suffered a high-grade fever with a difficulty in breathing. Later, the infant went into cardiac arrest within minutes of arriving at the hospital. The hospital said that the child could only be saved after 30 minutes of CPR. “The doctors diagnosed him with a severe case of bronchiolitis (viral pneumonia) which has led to pneumopericardium- a rare condition where the sac around the heart is affected due to the damaged lungs. In this case, the lungs have burst due to infection, which led to a drop in blood pressure due to air around heart causing the heart to function poorly,” according to the hospital. Rahul was an ordinary kid who didn’t have any serious health issues until his recovery from Covid-19 which he contracted in December last year. The hospital said that the child started showing symptoms of Long Covid over a month after the recovery. The problem started with a cough which swiftly progressed to a high fever. Later on, he began to have breathing problems and then was rushed to Aakash where he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Dr Sayed Mustafa Hasan, Head of paediatrics and Neonatology at the hospital said the further examination revealed that the child had developed Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) as a post-Covid trauma. “MIS-C is a rare disorder in which his own body was killing multiple organs.
As a result, the lungs, heart, brain and kidneys had suffered considerable damage. The baby was even unable to pass urine, putting him in a severe condition. He was also experiencing speech difficulty and loss of eye contact with others as a result of the post-Covid effects,” according to the doctor. Hasan said his team immediately began Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) after recovering him with CPR, removing all waste material from his body. “The therapy continued non-stop for 60 hours. To eliminate infections, we employed the cytosorb dialysis filter. We also worked to normalize his blood pressure down,” he added. Rahul spent 15-16 days in the ICU ward on a ventilator. During this time, a team of specialists attempted to restore his kidneys, heart and lungs to normal function. His condition improved over time, and he was eventually discharged from the hospital. Dr Sameer Punia, Consultant, Paediatrics & Neonatology at Aakash said that many hospitals have seen cases where children recovered from Covid-19 acquired serious post-covid complications which may prove fatal if left undiagnosed. “It is therefore important that parents keep a check on developing symptoms after their child has recovered from Covid-19,” he added.
With UNI Inputs
