Source: MLive
OCEANA COUNTY, MI – A year ago on Christmas Day, Dae’Shun Jamison was on a ventilator, his body struggling against a rare inflammatory condition linked to COVID-19.
For five months, Brittney Autman kept a Christmas tree up at her house waiting for her son to come home.
This Christmas, the 11-year-old Oceana County boy, adapting to life as a quadruple amputee, opened presents with his family wearing a big grin on his face.
“I wished for a Christmas miracle,” said Autman. “This Christmas we celebrated like we should have last year. I got my wish. My family is together and Dae’Shun is home.”
Jamison has spent the last year recovering from MIS-C, multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, a severe overactive immune response that occurs after a COVID-19 infection.
Although MIS-C is rare with nearly 6,500 cases nationwide, inflammation to the heart and vital organs can make it dangerous. Michigan has recorded 208 MIS-C cases with about 70% of those admitted to the ICU, according to state health officials.
For Jamison, he spent 158 days in the hospital.
Complications from being on a ventilator, an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine and dialysis led to a critical loss of circulation that required doctors to amputate the boy’s hands and feet.
“I was really scared,” Autman said. “But seeing him smile and working to get where he wants to be, that makes me feel good — the complete opposite of what I was feeling back then.”
Dr. Rosemary Olivero, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, said cases of MIS-C have jumped in tandem with surging COVID-19 infection rates in West Michigan.
“We had one case in August, one case in September, one case in October, and then in November, we had four cases. But in the month of December, we have seen 15,” she said. “That is the largest number of cases we have seen at our hospital in any month during the whole pandemic.”
Hospital stays for MIS-C patients range from two to 14 days but average around five days, Olivero said.
December’s caseload accounts for about a quarter of the 57 total cases Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital has seen since April 2020.
Olivero says only one of the children diagnosed with MIS-C was fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Children have bearing the brunt of being unvaccinated and getting COVID-19. So, I think it does follow suit to see the MIS-C cases that we have seen,” she said.
Vaccination rates among Michigan children have lagged since rolling out late last year with only about 15% of 5 to 11 year olds fully vaccinated and teens ranging from 41% to 47%, state data shows.
“We are hoping, and our hypothesis seems to be bearing out as true, that vaccination will prevent not only severe disease from COVID-19 but also dramatically reduce your likelihood of getting MIS-C,” Olivero said.
MIS-C develops about a month after a COVID-19 infection, but health officials still do not know its cause. Key symptoms include a prolonged fever, a rash, redness of the eyes or lips, severe stomach pain, diarrhea or fatigue, and it can escalate quickly.