Local mother shares frightening experience with children’s syndrome linked to COVID-19

PITTSBURGH — An Indiana County 9-year-old recently recovered from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children after spending three days at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Colton Neese’s mother said he only had the sniffles for a few days and then was fine. Weeks later, he had a fever, was lethargic and couldn’t keep anything down.

Dr. Zac Aldewereld with Children’s Hospital said there have been nearly 30 cases of MIS-C since the start of the pandemic. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 5,526 confirmed pediatric cases of MIS-C and 48 deaths nationwide.

“It appears to be caused by the body’s immune system reacting to COVID, so it’s actually not from the acutely infection itself but as the body makes antibodies, it developed other immune responses to the infection down the line,” Aldewereld said.