Skip to main content

What do you think of our new website?

We’ve made some improvements to its design, information, and performance. Please tell us if we can do anything better. Give feedback

Ministry of Health
  1. Home
  2. Newsroom
  3. MEDIA STATEMENT ON PAEDIATRIC MIS-C CASES IN SINGAPORE
Press Releases

MEDIA STATEMENT ON PAEDIATRIC MIS-C CASES IN SINGAPORE

6 November 2021

This article has been migrated from an earlier version of the site and may display formatting inconsistencies.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has been notified of four cases of paediatric Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) to date. These four cases were amongst the over 8,000 paediatric COVID-19 cases in Singapore since the start of the pandemic, and considered rare. Of these four cases, one is in the Children’s Intensive Care Unit (CICU), one is in a General Ward, and two have been discharged.

2. The four cases are:

a. A three-year-old boy admitted to the National University Hospital (NUH) CICU on 16 October 2021. He had repeatedly tested PCR-negative, but his serology test results indicated that he likely had a COVID-19 infection two to six weeks prior to the development of MIS-C. He has since recovered and was discharged on 23 October.

b. An eight-year-old boy admitted to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s (KKH) CICU on 27 October 2021. He had been previously diagnosed with COVID-19 infection on 30 September. He has since recovered and was discharged on 1 November.

c. A four-year-old boy admitted to KKH CICU on 1 November 2021. As of 6 November, the boy remains in the CICU and his breathing is supported by mechanical ventilation. He had previously tested positive for COVID-19 infection on 24 September. The KKH paediatric teams are actively managing his care.

d. A two-month-old female infant admitted to KKH General Ward on 3 November 2021. She was previously admitted to KKH for COVID-19 infection on 12 October, and discharged on 19 October. The patient’s condition remains stable, with no oxygen requirements.

3. In May 2020, an international review from 26 countries reported a MIS-C incidence of 0.14% (14 in 10,000) among all children with COVID-19 infection. 

4. MIS-C is similar in presentation to Kawasaki Disease (KD) which has been linked to various virus or bacterial infections, and occurs in 150 to 200 children a year in Singapore. Symptoms of MIS-C include persistent fever above 38.5°C for three days or more, with difficulty breathing, headache, neck swelling, rash, swollen hands and feet, conjunctivitis, diarrhoea, or abdominal pain.

5. As MIS-C is linked to previous COVID-19 infection, measures such as mask wearing, hand hygiene, and safe distancing measures remain important to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 infection.