Potential link between coronavirus and inflammatory syndrome in children
Reaction and analysis from Dr. Roberta Debiasi, Division Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children's National Hospital, on ‘America’s News HQ.’
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Several children in Colorado are being treated for a mysterious illness that may be linked to COVID-19 infections in children, according to a local report.
At least three pediatric patients at Children’s Hospital Colorado are suspected of having developed "pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children,” or MIS-C, Fox 31 reported.
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The syndrome is said to be a Kawasaki disease-like condition that doctors in the U.S. and abroad now suspect may be an unusual complication of the novel coronavirus striking mainly in children.
In fact, a seemingly growing number of states have reported cases of MIS-C in pediatric coronavirus patients in recent weeks. In New York, for instance, at least three children died after being hospitalized with the syndrome.
Details on the Colorado children's conditions were not immediately clear.
“Because this is a new and emerging syndrome, there is still a lot we don’t know about MIS-C,” Gov. Jared Polis said Wednesday when announcing the cases, according to the station.
Dr. Sam Dominguez, an infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital Colorado, urged parents not to panic — but encouraged them to be on the lookout for signs of MIS-C, especially if their child has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in recent weeks. The syndrome has been said to affect children who test positive for a current or recent infection of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
“This suggests that what we’re seeing in these children is a post-infectious or inflammatory response to the virus, as opposed to direct ongoing damage from the virus itself,” Dominguez said, according to Fox 31.
Earlier this week, officials in Virginia announced what is thought to be the state’s first case of the mysterious inflammatory condition, following similar news out of Oregon and Mississippi.
Previously, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital (YNHCH) in Connecticut announced three cases of the condition in pediatric coronavirus patients there. The cases are said to be the state’s first and have since been reported to the Connecticut Department of Public health, the hospital said in a news release.
The condition has also affected several patients at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in California, as well as at least one child in Louisiana.
A 6-month-old who was hospitalized in California with Kawasaki disease last month also tested positive for COVID-19, Reuters reported at the time. Meanwhile, physicians in Washington, D.C., have also recently reported cases of the mysterious condition.
The increasing number of cases prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week to issue an advisory regarding MIS-C.
MIS-C can also cause persistent fever, rashes, vomiting, and diarrhea, among other symptoms such as a red tongue and eyes.
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Dr. Jacqueline Szmuszkovicz, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, recently said that children who have a fever that lasts for four or more days should seek medical attention.
“Certainly, if they see any of the other signs — the rash, the red tongue, red eyes — we encourage them to seek care,” she told The Los Angeles Times.
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