An 8-year-old Minnesota girl contracted COVID-19 in March and was soon fighting for her life after she developed an autoimmune disease.
Avella Braun, of the south Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, was a normal happy and healthy kid until March 2021, NBC News reported. Early that month, she developed a low fever, but appeared to recover. Until one day, her mom Lani found her unresponsive and rushed her to the hospital.
Avella was diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a rare disease in which the body’s immune system attacks itself and causes the brain and spinal cord to swell.
An 8-year-old girl in Minnesota was paralyzed by an autoimmune disease that was triggered by a COVID infection. (Shutterstock/)
ADEM is triggered by viral infections, and the only virus that Avella tested positive for was COVID, according to KMSP.
“We have every reason to believe that COVID was the triggering virus here,” Dr. Michael Pitt, Avella’s pediatrician, told the station. “We’re seeing cases all over the world of ADEM where the only virus they find is COVID.”
Part of Avella’s skull has been removed because of the swelling of her brain, NBC News reported. She remains paralyzed in a hospital bed and needs a feeding tube to eat.
The connection between COVID and ADEM was discovered early in the pandemic, back in June 2020. Most children recover in four to six months, but Avella has an even rarer case, known as AHEM (acute hemorrhagic encephalomyelitis).
“We’re seeing an extreme that is very, very rare, but it’s certainly something we would want to prevent,” Dr. Pitt told NBC News.
Lani Bauer hopes her daughter’s story inspires parents to get vaccinated and convince their children to wear masks. There is also a GoFundMe for the Bauer family.
“If getting the shot and wearing your mask is one step closer to preventing this (happening) to another child, that’s what I want to stress, she told NBC News. “I want to stress to make sure you wear your mask.”
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