Illness possibly linked to COVID-19 strikes another child, Kansas City hospital says
Children’s Mercy now has a second patient with a rare inflammatory illness possibly linked to COVID-19.
The hospital said last week it was treating its first patient for the syndrome. One patient remains in the hospital’s Adele Hall Campus, spokeswoman Lisa Augustine said Tuesday.
Officials at St. Louis Children’s Hospital have reported cases as well.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the illness a name: MIS-C, or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. The federal agency has asked health care providers to alert local and state health departments of cases in patients younger than 21.
In late April, doctors in the United Kingdom began noticing reports of previously healthy children getting sick with what looked like the inflammatory illness Kawasaki disease.
“The cases occurred in children testing positive for current or recent infection by SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19,” according to the CDC.
Then doctors in New York state began reporting cases, too, more than 100 to date, and many of them hospitalized in intensive care units. Cases are still being reported, according to the CDC.
Symptoms differ from child to child. Doctors have seen these: a fever that lasts more than five days, rashes, bloodshot eyes, swollen hands and feet, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite and lethargy, difficulty breathing in infants, a racing heart or chest pain, and pale, patchy and/or blue skin coloring.
The CDC says that it’s not known if the syndrome also occurs in adults, and that it needs more information, which is why it put doctors on alert.
Parents are advised to call their pediatrician if their child doesn’t need immediate medical attention. They can also call the Children’s Mercy Nurse Advice Line — 816-234-3188.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 10:19 AM.
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