2-Year-Old Suffers Multiple Organ Dysfunction After Recovering From Covid

A two-year-old boy suffered multiple organ dysfunction days after recovering from COVID-19 and spent around 16 days on a ventilator as specialists at a private hospital here worked towards restoring his kidneys, heart and lungs to normal function.

After recovering from COVID-19, the kid developed a cough in December last year, which swiftly progressed to high fever and breathing problems. His parents rushed him to a local hospital, but his condition worsened. When the child started choking, the family shifted him to Aakash Healthcare, Dwarka, where he suffered a cardiac arrest.

"Within minutes of arriving at the hospital, the child had a cardiac arrest. It is especially disturbing for me as a doctor because he is just two years old. Further examinations revealed that he had developed Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), 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," said Dr. Sayed Mustafa Hasan, Senior Consultant and Head, Pediatrics and Neonatology, Aakash Healthcare.

"The baby was 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. We immediately began Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) to remove 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," he said.

The boy spent around 16 days on a ventilator in the ICU ward. During this time, a team of specialists attempted to restore his kidneys, heart and lungs to normal function. Along with CRRT, he was also given hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis to remove the infection. His condition improved over time and he was eventually discharged from the hospital.

"It took a collaborative effort from several pediatric specialties across the hospital to save this little one's life. We used a variety of technologies to keep track of the health of various organs. It's a very rare case and less than one percent of the kids suffer from such severe infection and leading to multiple organ dysfunction. Finally, he is rid of all infections and he can resume his normal life," said Dr. Neha Bhandari, Consultant, Pediatrics Nephrology.

Cardiac arrest is rare in children, but it can happen. Hence, all children need regular check-up visits with their doctor. These visits are a chance to get a complete physical exam and detailed health history to help identify risk factors that can develop into life-threatening situations.

Major hospitals in India have seen cases wherein children who had recovered from COVID-19 acquired post-Covid complications which might be deadly. It is therefore important that parents keep a check on developing symptoms after their child has recovered from Covid-19, said Dr. Sameer Punia, Consultant, Paediatric & Neonatology, Aakash Healthcare.