The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it doesn’t know if the new COVID-19 variants are creating more cases of a rare complicated in children, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C.
- Per ABC News: “MIS-C is a condition where different body parts like the heart, lungs, brain, skin, eyes and kidneys can become inflamed. The condition occurs in children who have been infected with COVID-19.”
What’s going on?
The CDC said it remains unsure if the new COVID-19 variants are creating more cases of MIS-C. The agency isn’t sure if the variants will create more cases in the future, either.
- “All I can say right now is we don’t know,” Dr. Angela Campbell, a CDC medical officer with the Influenza Division, said Tuesday, according to CNN.
More about MIS-C
- MIS-C has been seen in children who have contracted the coronavirus, showing up about three weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to CNN.
- In some cases, MIS-C pops up in patients who had no COVID-19 symptoms, though.
- Symptoms for MIS-C include fevers for at least 24 hours, gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, red eyes and fatigue, according to ABC News.
Local response
A Utah doctor is currently the co-leader in the country’s first long-term study for the MIS-C complication, as the Deseret News reported.
So far, MIS-C has hit more than 50 children in Utah.
Stopping the virus is the only way to stop the complications from hitting more children, said Dr. Ngan Truong, University of Utah Health and Primary Children’s Hospital pediatric cardiologist, according to the Deseret News.
- “At this point, that is all we can do,” she said, according to the Deseret News.