Dr. Marc Siegel on children developing coronavirus-related illness as authorities look to reopen schools
Parents on edge as children start to develop new coronavirus-related illness; insight from Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel.
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A child in Louisiana has died of a rare inflammatory condition that’s possibly linked to the novel coronavirus, marking the first such death in the state, health officials said this week.
In addition to the one death, at least 13 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) have also been reported in the Bayou State. No other details were provided on the child who died, with officials with the Louisiana Department of Health citing privacy concerns for the family, according to a news release provided to Fox News.
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MIS-C is an inflammatory condition that is similar to Kawasaki disease, which causes swelling in arteries throughout the body. Many children with MIS-C — which causes inflammation in the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs — have either been infected with the novel coronavirus or had been exposed to someone with a COVID-19 infection, according to health officials.
MIS-C can also cause persistent fever, rashes, vomiting, and diarrhea, among other symptoms such as a red tongue and eyes.
In Louisiana, all of the cases were reported in patients 19 years old or younger, with at least four children still hospitalized due to MIS-C.
More cases of the Kawasaki disease-like inflammatory condition are likely to pop up in children around the country as the virus continues to spread, experts have warned, and the increasing number of cases even prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to recently issue an advisory regarding MIS-C. Overall, more than 250 cases of the mysterious illness have been reported across the country in recent weeks.
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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.