“We had a nice long break from those cases over the summer and even into the fall, where we could occasionally get an occasional MIS-C case here and there, but in the last three to four weeks there has definitely been an increase. “And I would expect it to continue for the next few weeks,” said Dr. Amy Edwards, an infectious disease specialist at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.
Doctors do not know for sure what causes MIS-C. Often children first have covid-19, but not always. For the few children who continue to develop MIS-C, it seems that the condition ignites different parts of the body and it can be serious.
At Children’s National in DC, the rise in cases just started last week, according to Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, Head of the Division of Pediatric Diseases. This wave of new MIS-C cases has not been as great as two surges earlier in the year, when they saw up to about 60 MIS-C patients. For this wave, they have so far had about 18 MIS-C patients.
At Children’s Hospital Colorado, they also saw “significantly” more MIS-C cases in September compared to previous months, according to Dr. Sam Dominguez, a pediatric disease expert at the hospital. But he said they do not see the same rates as they saw in December 2020 and January 2021.
The rise in cases has not affected the country evenly. Regions with minor increases in Covid-19 cases, e.g. Chicago, does not report an increase in MIS-C, according to Dr. Bill Muller, an infectious disease specialist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. “We saw an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases with Delta, including increased hospitalizations, but it was nowhere near what the South had,” Muller said.
Doctors say that is why vaccines are so important, even if young children are not eligible to get a vaccine. The adults around those who can help get the community case numbers down. If the number of Covid-19 cases is lower, there is a much smaller chance that children will develop MIS-C.
The children who appear most vulnerable to MIS-C appear to share similar demographic characteristics. Most reported MIS-C cases were among children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 13, with an average age of about 9, the CDC said. More than half, 59%, were in men. MIS-C has disproportionately affected color colors. In its latest update, the CDC said that 61% of reported cases are in children who are Latino or non-Hispanic black.
Edwards at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland said many of the children they treat for MIS-C had mild or even asymptomatic coronavirus infections at first. She said it was something parents should keep in mind.
“Even if you’re not sure if your child had covid if they had mild symptoms after being exposed to someone, but then they got better, and about a month later it seems to get sick again, especially if they have a very high fever, I would be wrong to have them checked sooner rather than later, “said Edwards.” What we know about MIS-C is that the earlier you intervene, the less sick the children seem to be. to become.”
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