COVID-19-Linked 'Children's Mysterious Syndrome' Also Found in Adults in Their 30s in Korea

Adult Patient Diagnosed with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome After COVID-19 Infection... First Domestic Case

On the 12th, International Nurses Day, medical staff are collecting specimens at the temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which mainly occurred in children and adolescents infected with COVID-19 and was called 'children's mystery disease,' has been found to occur in adults as well.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome has been reported mainly in children and adolescents in Europe and the United States following the spread of COVID-19. It is a systemic inflammatory response that appears weeks after COVID-19 infection, characterized by fever, rash, and multiple organ damage. It is also known to occur in some adults overseas. Our quarantine authorities are also conducting surveillance and investigations on cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and adolescents in Korea.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the medical community on the 23rd, a 38-year-old male patient at Seoul Asan Medical Center was diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome after COVID-19 infection in April. This is the first case in Korea where an adult patient was diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome following COVID-19 infection. The case became known after Professor Kim Min-jae of the Infectious Diseases Department at Seoul Asan Medical Center recently reported it as a research paper in the Journal of the Korean Medical Science (JKMS).

At the time, the patient visited the emergency room at Seoul Asan Medical Center after experiencing abdominal pain and fever for five days. Although he received antibiotic treatment at a nearby hospital, his symptoms worsened. When he visited the emergency room, he was short of breath when lying down and could only breathe while sitting up.

The medical staff diagnosed him with multisystem inflammatory syndrome based on the fact that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-March and clinical symptoms such as heart failure. It is known that the patient had a mild case of COVID-19 without any significant complications and recovered.

Afterward, the patient received treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and steroids, and his symptoms improved, leading to discharge 13 days after hospitalization.