Texas Children’s Hospital treating several children with inflammatory illness linked to COVID-19

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Texas Children’s Hospital confirmed doctors are treating patients suffering from a new phenomenon called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children, known as MIS-C.

The CDC has officially linked MIS-C to COVID-19.

According to their website, it can be serious, even deadly, but doctors said this disease is still rare.

“MIS-C appears to be an overwhelming immune response to some trigger, which we think is COVID-19 at the moment,” explained Dr. Michael Chang, an Infectious Disease Specialist with Memorial Hermann and UT Health. “So basically, the immune system overreacts to something and then it doesn’t know when to turn off.”

MIS-C is a disease where different body parts become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys and skin.

Doctors said it shows up about four to six weeks after the child was exposed to coronavirus.

In many cases, the child only suffers minimal or mild coronavirus symptoms, but then weeks later, they develop MIS-C.

“We’re not entirely sure about how contagious it is,” said Dr. Lara Shekerdemian with Texas Children’s Hospital. “This is a delayed response to the primary infection. In fact, many children who are presenting, at least half of them, it seems, have no positive swabs for COVID-19, which would suggest they are very unlikely to be infected at the stage in which they present with MIS-C.”

HERE ARE THE SYMPTOMS:

• Fever

• Abdominal pain

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Neck pain

• Rash

• Bloodshot eyes

• Feeling extra tired

Both Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital already know how to treat the symptoms and have teams of specialists on stand by.

Children’s Memorial Hermann is not currently treating any patients with confirmed MIS-C.

Texas Children’s Hospital said of the patients they are treating, only some are critical cases.