Florida’s surgeon general has acknowledged that a syndrome that attacks children and is associated with Covid-19 has surfaced in Florida, adding a scary new dimension to the battle against the coronavirus in the state.
Surgeon General Scott Rivkees encouraged physicians and hospitals to make sure they report any suspected cases of what is known as a “multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children” to health department officials.
“We are beginning to see cases nationally and a few cases in Florida of this inflammatory disorder that is infecting children,” Rivikees said Monday in a statewide call with hospital representatives. “If you see cases like that, make us aware at the Department of Health.”
The Florida Department of Health, which Rivkees oversees, did not immediately comment Tuesday on the number of cases in the state of the syndrome, which goes by the abbreviation MIS-C. But Holtz Children’s Hospital, which is part of Miami’s Jackson Health System, has two confirmed cases.
“Both patients are receiving appropriate treatment in the pediatric intensive care unit, and are showing signs of improvement,” a statement from the hospital said.
The hospital would not say when the patients were admitted or how long they have been at the hospital. “We have no additional information to release at this time.” it said.
The Miami Herald first reported the two cases.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out a health advisory to physicians last week detailing the emergence of MIS-C in New York City and New York state, with 15 children hospitalized between April 16 and May 4. Many of the patients, who ranged in ages from 2 to 15, were admitted to an intensive care unit, the CDC noted in the advisory.
As of May 12, the number of patients identified by New York health officials had increased to 102.
“New York State and New York City continue to receive additional reports of suspected cases,” the CDC noted in the advisory Thursday.
MIS-C manifests in people under age 21 who are positive for Covid-19 or have antigens or have been exposed to Covid-19 in the four weeks prior to the onset of symptoms.
The inflammatory syndrome has symptoms that mirror a condition known as Kawasaki syndrome, which, according to the CDC, include fever, rash, swelling of the hands and feet, irritation and redness of the whites of the eyes, swollen lymph glands in the neck and irritation and inflammation of the mouth, lips and throat.
Rivkees, a former chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine, said the Department of Health was sending an advisory on the syndrome to physicians on Monday.
–Christine Sexton, News Service of Florida
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Percy's mother says
How do we know the resurgence of Kawasaki’s is directly related to Covid-19?
Kawasaki’s has been around for over 50 years.
Covid-19 has been around for about 6 months give or take.
So how has Kawasaki’s been DIRECTLY related to and traced to Covid-19?
Perhaps its vaccination-related, since it affects children under 5 years of age, but that’s a taboo subject isn’t it?
Be upfront says
I heard physicians and scientists say they think it is related to Covid19 as evidenced by the children showing positive for Covid antibodies which is directly related to exposure to the virus.
Be upfront says
Advent a health in Palm Coast does not have a Pediatric unit nor any Pediatric physicians. No Birthing Center and obviously no NICU.
Sherry says
This mysterious malady in children IS linked to Covid 19, and most medical experts are NOT calling it Kawasaki Syndrome. This article says it is similar. . . that’s all. Regardless of the label put on this illness, it needs to be taken very seriously. This risk should certainly be taken into consideration when decisions are made about exposure of children to Covid 19. Decisions like opening schools.
Take a good read:
Doctors and scientists in the U.S. and Europe have called a mysterious new pediatric illness that appears linked to COVID-19 “deeply concerning.” Instead of attacking the lungs like the new coronavirus disease does in adults, this syndrome, while seemingly very rare, can trigger serious, even deadly cardiac complications in kids.
The emerging disorder, dubbed Multisystem Inflammatory Illness in Children, or MIS-C, presents some of the classic signs of a well-known disorder discovered more than half a century ago in Japan. The symptoms of MIS-C (sometimes referred to as PMIS) are so similar to Kawasaki Disease that doctors are debating whether there could be a connection.
Sherry says
My mistake, it appears that the illness is “likely” linked to Covid 19, and that much more investigation and analysis need to be completed, regardless of what it is finally labeled. We should not be assuming that children are NOT harmed by being exposed to Covid 19.
Flatsflyer says
Don’t bother reporting it to the State of Florida, they will lie and distort those numbers just like they Corona.