Today Prisma Health hosted a news conference concerning multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).
According to the CDC, MIS-C is " a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Children with MIS-C may have a fever and various symptoms, including abdominal (gut) pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling extra tired."
The CDC website further states that the cause of MIS-C is currently unknown, but "many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID-19, or had been around someone with COVID-19."
Children's Hospital Infectious Disease physician Anna -Kathryn Burch provided information about MIS-C in the press conference.
She began by saying, "This is heavy on our hearts today as pediatric providers as we have lost our first child to this disease in the state of South Carolina."
Burch reports MIS-C is not an actual COVID infection; it is an inflammatory response to the COVID-19 virus itself. Since it is an inflammatory reaction, it is not contagious.
MIS-C occurs two to three weeks after a child has COVID-19.
MIS-C typically occurs in school age children and can affect older teenagers.
Burch urged parents to reach out to their primary care physician and get their child checked out if that child has symptoms such as the ones listed above.
She also clarified that if child has not had COVID-19 that does not mean they can't have MIS-C, especially because many children have asymptomatic infections of COVID-19.
To keep things in context, Burch clarified that most children that have COVID do not also get MIS-C, but it is important to keep an eye out for it.
