A rare but serious and life-threatening inflammatory syndrome that is believed to be associated with the coronavirus has been identified in 15 children in Los Angeles County, authorities said.
Of the children, 73% were Latino, representing a disproportionate burden on the ethnic group. Latino residents are the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles County, representing approximately half of the county’s residents. Nationwide, about 70% of cases of the inflammatory syndrome have been Latino or black patients.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, like MIS-C, heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children different parts of the body. Gastrointestinal Organs Symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes and exhaustion.
The syndrome has also been called pediatric multisystemic inflammatory syndrome, or PIMS.
Most children developed MIS-C about two to four weeks after being infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to the CDC. “Many questions remain about why some children develop it after a COVID-19 illness or contact with someone with COVID-19, while others do not,” the agency said.
No one who has experienced the syndrome has died in Los Angeles County. But the syndrome is life threatening. As of July 15, CDC received reports of 342 cases and six deaths related to the inflammatory syndrome. Of those, at least 99 cases and two deaths occurred in New York State, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.
The two deaths in New York State involved children 12 and younger, the medical journal said, who were admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain and fever, a high heart rate and low blood pressure.
In Los Angeles County, the average age of people with the syndrome was 8 1/2 years. County officials said 40% were 5 years old or younger; another 40% were between 6 and 12; and the remaining 20% were between 13 and 20.
