KUALA LUMPUR: Seven children aged 18 and below in Malaysia have died of multi-system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) due to Covid-19 infections.
MIS-C is a critical condition where inflammation occurs in the organs particularly in the heart, lungs, and brain.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said they were part of 174 children who experienced MIS-C after being infected with the coronavirus between June 2020 and December 2021.
64 cases involved children aged five to nine; one to five-year-old (38 cases), nine to 12-years-old (36 cases), below one-year-old (25 cases) and above 12-years-old (11 cases).
He said until mid-February, 50,826 children aged below 12 were tested positive for Covid-19.
Of the total, 34,857 cases were under Category 2; 15,817 cases under Category 1; 120 cases under Category 3; 28 cases under Category 4; and four cases under Category 5.
"Patients below 12-years-old admitted to hospitals have also been on an upward trend, in line with the spike in Covid-19 cases in the country, particularly in February.
"The same trend also occurred for children aged 11 to 17-years-old," he said in a statement today.
He explained that this might be due to the spread of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant and the increased movement of children in the community after the reopening of schools and day care centres.
"Children are directly impacted by the pandemic that had disrupted their family life, social and education aspects.
"The prolonged pandemic had affected their psychological and social development," he said.
He said although Covid-19 symptoms among children are relatively milder than adults, however, there were still cases that needed treatment at hospitals and intensive care units.
He added that there is also risk for children to experience Long Covid.
He said the best ways to protect children are self-control and vaccination.
"Clinical research showed that the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine on children aged five to 11-years-old is at 91 per cent and is able to enhance immunity against Covid-19, and reduce the risk of serious illness from the virus."
He also said other measures to protect children are to remain at home expect for important and necessary trips; comply with standard operating procedures (SOP); family members must always follow SOPs outside home, not bring the virus home; and family members who are isolating at home must fully adhere to quarantine rules.
Meanwhile, 454,194 or 12.8 per cent of children aged five to 11-year-old in the country had received the first dose of the vaccine under the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids).
Yesterday, 70,792 doses were administered to children nationwide.
Melaka is leading the chart where 25.2 per cent children have been inoculated, Sarawak (23.6 per cent), and Perak (17.7 per cent).
The vaccination rate in Terengganu and Kelantan is still below five per cent at 4.8 and 3.3 per cent since PICKids rolled out on Feb 3.