What would you do if your child woke up and physically couldn’t get out of bed or walk? This was a scary reality for the Small family in Harrisburg. Before her illness, Breslyn Small was your typical kid.
“Very active, always is running around and dancing. So to see her not even able to walk from her room to the bathroom was very concerning!” said Jaclyn Small
Like many kids this winter, Breslyn caught influenza A. But after a few days at home, her mom, Jaclyn, began to wonder if this was more than a viral illness.
“The fever was back, which we kind of understood flu could kind of come and go a little bit or some of those symptoms could. But then she attempted to get out of bed and couldn't stand, just immediately fell to the floor. And that was sort of the red flag that this seems a little different than a typical flu symptom,” said Small.
Seeing your child struggle with sickness is every parent's nightmare. Losing the ability to walk is even more frightening. So the Smalls sought help from acute care. That's where Avera physician’s assistant Travis Slaba discovered that Breslyn's body had developed a severe and rare condition from her flu.
“Benign acute childhood myositis. Not very common, I've seen it probably two or three times in my life. And 70% of the time it's caused from influenza,” said Slaba.
A Scary Side-Effect of Influenza
Myositis targets the proteins in the muscles, leaving them weaker and can also impact the heart and kidneys. Thankfully for the Smalls, this viral type of the disease is far more manageable once diagnosed.
“It was a relief that they were able to explain that. But then also they started talking about kidney issues and things like that. And it becomes really eye opening that this can go bad really fast,” said Small.
“Essentially everything will be normal other than their CPK levels. And typical CPK levels are less than 150. With most of these cases of myositis they'll be between 1,000 and 2,500. Hers was a little bit higher, and thankfully as we tracked, it started coming down right away. Generally it's self-limiting and resolves on its own with just, Tylenol, ibuprofen and fluids,” said Slaba.
“For her, she was lucky that she was able to maintain by drinking a lot of fluids on her own. She got two days of getting to drink whatever she wanted,” said Small.
Breslyn is back to her normal self and Jaclyn hopes their story provides relief for parents for when scary symptoms pop up. It's also a reminder that the team at your local clinic is highly trained to care for both adults and children and they are more than OK with your visit and are invested in getting the right diagnosis.
Seek Help If Something Doesn't Seem Right
“You see a thousand colds a year and you walk in the room and you're always thinking, am I going to see that one in a million? Am I going to see a viral myocarditis and they're having congestive heart failure symptoms, am I going to see that inflammatory or viral myositis? It's always in the back of your mind. You don't see them very often, but it's always, OK, let's make sure we don't forget about these more serious things when children present somewhat atypically,” said Slaba.
“As a parent, before this winter, I had never heard of this. I hope it becomes more familiar for people. So that way it is maybe less scary for them,” said Small.
There is no specific way to prevent viral myositis, but the best way to lower your risk of catching viral infections is by practicing good hygiene such as hand washing and avoiding contact with others who are sick.
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