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Eight more Los Angeles County children contracted inflammatory disease linked to the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 62, county public health officials said on Saturday.
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, is serious but relatively rare. In LA County, it has disproportionately affected Latino children. No further details on the eight new cases were available.
Children are generally less vulnerable to the coronavirus than adults and generally remain asymptomatic. The inflammatory reaction that causes MIS-C usually develops two to four weeks after exposure to the virus.
Symptoms of MIS-C can include persistent fever, abdominal or neck pain, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, bloodshot eyes, low blood pressure, and exhaustion. Inflammation of parts of the body, such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs, is also a possible symptom.
Children have suffered from MIS-C since the start of the pandemic. In December, a child with complex pre-existing heart disease died from MIS-C in LA County – the only local death to date.
But to indicate the severity of the disease, the 62 children with MIS-C in LA County have been hospitalized, health officials said, with 45% being treated in the intensive care unit.
Latino children made up nearly 74% of cases in LA County, officials said.
Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 1,659 cases of MIS-C and 26 deaths since May.
LA County’s MIS-C cases were relatively evenly distributed across age groups: 31% were under 5, 37% between 5 and 11, and 32% between 12 and 20.
Nationwide, the CDC reported that the average age of affected children was 8 years old.
If your child has symptoms of MIS-C, contact your doctor or call 2-1-1, and LA County will help you find a doctor.
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