CDC updates info on multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

(HealthDay)—As of July 29, there have been a total of 570 U.S. cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), according to research published in the Aug. 7 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Shana Godfred-Cato, D.O., from the CDC COVID-19 Response Team in Atlanta, and colleagues reviewed suspected cases of MIS-C reported to local and state health departments as of July 29, 2020.

The researchers identified 570 U.S. MIS-C patients (median age, 8 years; 55.4 percent male). Cases were disproportionately seen among Hispanic or Latino children (40.5 percent) and non-Hispanic black children (33.1 percent) versus non-Hispanic white children (13.2 percent). Almost all patients (99.1 percent) had positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test results. Just over one-third of patients (35.6 percent) had a clinical course consistent with previously published MIS-C reports, including presentation with shock, cardiac dysfunction, abdominal pain, and markedly elevated inflammatory markers. The other two-thirds of MIS-C patients (64.4 percent) had manifestations that overlapped with acute COVID-19, had a less severe clinical course, or had features of Kawasaki disease. The median length of hospital stay was six days, and nearly two-thirds (63.9 percent) of patients required admission to an intensive care unit. Ten patients (1.8 percent) died.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to expand in many jurisdictions, clinicians should be aware of the signs and symptoms of MIS-C and report suspected cases to their state or local health departments," the authors write.

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