Third wave: Doctors want govt. to stock up MIS-C medicine

Symptoms of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and rashes

As the demand for Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) needed for treating post COVID-19 Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) has been high during the pandemic, experts now suggest that it would be advisable for the government to stock up for the third wave. IVIG is a therapy treatment for patients with antibody deficiencies. It is prepared from a pool of immunoglobulins (antibodies) from the plasma of thousands of healthy donors and helps the patient fight infections. While it was in use even during the pre-COVID-19 days, the demand has gone up during the pandemic, especially in the second wave when doctors saw many children with MIS-C. Epidemiologist and public health specialist Sunil Kumar D.R., who heads the Department of Community Medicine at Akash Institute of Medical Sciences, said IVIG treatment proved extremely crucial during the second wave when a lot of children developed MIS-C. “Children develop MIS-C two to six weeks post COVID-19. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and rashes,” he said.