On May 12, 2020, the CDC announced they will officially be updating doctors on the latest symptoms for COVID-19 in children. The New York State Department of Health has been investigating roughly 100 cases of possible COVID-19 involving youth. Governor Andrew Cuomo stated that three youth died from a mysterious ailment.
What Are the New Symptoms Created by Covid-19?
The new inflammatory factor COVID-19 has been showing up in children all across the United States. The symptoms to be looking for are:
- High fever that persists;
- Belly pain;
- Rash;
- And vomiting.
Doctors are calling this rare ailment, Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome. Chief of Pediatric Critical Care at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Dr. James Schneider has advised, “If they (parents) have a child with a fever for more than three days and have these abdominal symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, severe belly pain, that would be the time to call your pediatrician.”
What the Syndrome Mimicks and Recovery
Symptoms of the Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome mirror other notable inflammatory illnesses, such as toxic shock syndrome and Kawaski Disease. Governor Cuomo believes there have been numerous other child cases that were not diagnosed properly at the time. This belief stems from children testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies, however, they never showed any symptoms known for the virus.
This new syndrome emerges because a child’s immune system jumps into high gear after being infected by COVID-19. Experts want to inform the public that the syndrome can develop up to six weeks after a child has been infected with COVID-19. A child may not show any other signs of the virus before symptoms of the syndrome appear.
How Many Cases and Further Information
Authorities stress that the Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome is extremely rare. There is no way to establish which children are at risk of developing the syndrome. However, most of the children do recover from the syndrome. Researchers have found that some people (children included), who have had COVID-19, were left with heart damage of some kind.
So far, there have been more than 93 cases of children in the U.S. who have had this rare syndrome. It is possible for this number to rise as more cases of COVID-19 are being discovered every day. Nonetheless, parents and caregivers need to know what the symptoms are so they can be more educated on COVID-19. As always, if anyone believes they may have COVID-19 symptoms or concerning medical issues, please contact a medical provider immediately.
By Sheena Robertson
Edited by Jeanette Vietti
Sources:
Click2Houston: Doctors warn parents to look out for symptoms of rare, mystery illness in kids that could be linked to coronavirus
Newsday: Inflammatory, virus-related disease linked to children up to 93 cases statewide
CNN: CDC will alert doctors to look out for syndrome in children that could be related to coronavirus
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of John’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License