Coronavirus syndrome may be behind Tennessee doctor’s death



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A rare but potentially serious syndrome linked to the coronavirus could be the cause of the death of a doctor in Tennesee, according to a local report.

Dr Barton Williams, a 36-year-old orthopedic surgeon in Memphis, is believed to have died from multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A).

This disease, similar to Kawasaki disease, has affected children more frequently since the start of the pandemic; Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) usually involves shock, heart dysfunction, stomach pain, and hyper-inflammation, among other complications.

Williams, who died last week at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, may have already experienced an asymptomatic case of COVID-19, Dr Stephen Threlkeld, an infectious disease expert at the hospital, told a local news station .

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Much like children who develop MIS-C, adults who develop MIS-A usually do so within weeks of coronavirus infection, in what is thought to be a delayed immune response to the virus.

Threlkeld told The Daily Memphian that Williams had tested negative for COVID-19 several times in hospital, but was later found to have antibodies to the virus from a natural coronavirus infection in addition to those that his immune system had created after receiving the vaccine.

“The immune system’s response is to eradicate the virus. One of its most basic characteristics is its ability to turn off when it’s done,” said Dr. Scott Strome, executive dean of the College of Medicine of University of Tennessee Health Science Center. the Daily Memphian.

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“It has to know when it’s done. If it doesn’t, you get an autoimmune situation. Whatever the reason, the body always thinks it has a threat and doesn’t turn off. Then you get this systematic inflammation, “he added.

Still, MIS-A has not been named as the definitive cause of Williams’ death, with Threlkeld noting that an autopsy is underway. The Centers for Diease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also investigating the man’s death, he said.

“It’s hard to draw sweeping conclusions in any direction when you’re talking about something that has never been reported anywhere before,” Threlkeld told the newspaper. “No one has been previously reported to have this disease (MIS) which also received the vaccine. Thirty-three million people have been vaccinated so far in the United States and none of these people have been reported as having this process. Only people who have had actual SARS-CoV-2 infections have had this process. “

The CDC first identified MIS-A in October, based on reports of 27 patients who had “cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, dermatological and neurological symptoms without severe respiratory disease and who simultaneously received results. test positive for SARS-CoV-2 ”.

There is still a lot of unknown about MIS-A, with a lot of uncertainty about the timeline of SARS-CoV-2 infection to the onset of MIS-A. However, the CDC indicated that “MIS-A and MIS-C could represent post-infectious processes.” Adults who reported typical symptoms of COVID-19 developed MIS-A about two to five weeks later.

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Patients with MIS-A may not test positive for COVID-19, given the syndrome onset weeks later. The agency stressed the importance of antibody tests for a previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 to recognize and treat MIS-A.

“The results indicate that adult patients of all ages with current or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection may develop MIS-C-like hyperinflammatory syndrome,” the authors wrote at the time, adding that the measurements aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 can help prevent GIS. -A.

Kayla Rivas of Fox News contributed to this report.

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