NYC reports more than 50 children suffering from mysterious illness

FAN Editor

New York City now has more than 50 cases of “pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome,” a mysterious illness affecting children that’s believed to be related to COVID-19CBS New York reports.

New York’s governor said Tuesday the state is investigating about 100 cases of the inflammatory illness statewide, with the ages of cases ranging from infancy to 21.

New York City alone has 52 cases, including one of three deaths reported in the state, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Ten other cases are pending. 

“It’s sobering. It’s bluntly frightening, and I want to say to parents out there: If you’re hearing this information about pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome and it sounds scary, it does sound scary. I’m speaking as a parent myself,” de Blasio said. “It’s something we did not see essentially throughout March and April. It was not something that the health care community saw on their radar. Then in the last week or two, suddenly, we’re seeing something that’s very troubling.”

Of the 62 confirmed or possible cases, 25 tested positive for the coronavirus and 22 had COVID-19 antibodies.

“Often times when they get the results back from COVID-19, the results may actually be negative,” New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said Monday. “We are encouraging pediatricians to also do antibody testing for these children, more so to confirm the diagnosis, not as an indication of whether or not it’s going to then impact the case moving forward.”

Experts say thee illness bears some resemblance to a rare condition called Kawasaki disease. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state’s Department of Health will work with the CDC and the New York Genome Center to study the illness.  

Mayor Bill de Blasio said early detection makes all the difference, and parents should be on the lookout for persistent fever, rash, abdominal pain and vomiting.

“If your child is off, if your child doesn’t have energy, if your child is not themselves and has at least one of these symptoms, call immediately to your doctor, your health care provider,” he said. “If you see multiple symptoms, even more urgent.”

Officials say care should be sought immediately if a child has: 

  • Prolonged fever (more than 5 days). 
  • Difficulty feeding (infants) or is too sick to drink fluids.
  • Severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting.
  • Change in skin color – becoming pale, patchy, and/or blue 
  • Trouble breathing or is breathing very quickly. 
  • Racing heart or chest pain.
  • Decreased amount or frequency of urine
  • Lethargy, irritability or confusion.

Doctors say kids over the age of 2 should wear masks whenever they go outside, practice social distancing and stay indoors as much as possible.

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