Karnataka reports first ANEC case in 13-yr-old patient

Davangere (Karnataka), June 25 Davangere in Karnataka has reported the state's first and the country's second Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy of Childhood (ANEC) case, the medical director of S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, N.K. Kalappanavar, confirmed on Friday.

Addressing a joint press conference here along with Davangere Deputy Commissioner Mahantesh Belagi, Kalappanavar said that a 13-year-old patient is undergoing treatment at the hospital for the rare post-Covid complication known as ANEC. He was admitted to the hospital eight days ago.

Kalappanavar said that medical examination had revealed that the boy's brain was inactive, following which he was put on ventilator support for three days.

He said the boy has been taken off the ventilator after showing signs of improvement.

"The patient requires one more week's treatment. We need to examine how severely his brain is damaged once he recovers," he explained.

"The patient is from the Hoovinahadagali taluka in Vijaynagar district. The treatment is very costly as each injection costs anywhere between Rs 75,000 and Rs 1 lakh for every child weighing around 30 kg," he said.

Kalappanavar added that ANEC is similar to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C), affecting the brain of the patient.

"There have been six MIS-C cases in the hospital till now, and all are recovering from it. ANEC is a very rare brain disorder found in kids," he said.

According to the American Journal of Neuroradiology, ANEC is a rapidly progressive encephalopathy affecting infants and children. It is a relatively new entity proposed by Mizuguchi in 1995.

Most of the cases have been identified from Southeast Asia. The prognosis of the disease is generally poor, with high mortality and severe neurologic sequelae. However, cases of total recovery have also been reported.

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