A rare syndrome possibly linked to the coronavirus that’s impacting children is now in Pennsylvania.
There are cases of multi-inflammatory syndrome in Pa., but there aren’t specific details about those cases yet.
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The illness has several symptoms – from fever to rash and abdominal pain – and it could be connected to COVID-19.
The CDC issued a health alert about it, defining it as “multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children” – or Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome.
Dr. Terence Dermody, chair of pediatrics for Children’s Hospital, told Channel 11 the illness is mild in children and most won’t experience severe symptoms.
But in rare cases, some children who do contract the coronavirus are also being diagnosed with MISC.
"There have been a few fatalities in New York City with pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome. It's three or four cases that I’m aware of in New York City,” Dermody said.
On Friday, Dr. Rachel Levine announced the new cases in Pennsylvania. She also said her department is monitoring the illness for certain symptoms.
“With some phone calls we’ve made … we have learned that there are cases of MISC in Pennsylvania, but we don’t know the details yet until that in-depth reporting will be done through our information system,” Levine said.
Dr. Levine and her team are working with all hospitals in the state, including children’s hospitals in terms of reporting the cases through their data system.
It’s unclear at this point how many cases of MISC there are in Pa. or the severity of those cases.
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