145 KID-ILL CASES
Feds confirm inflammatory woe, tie it to bug
The city is investigating 145 possible cases of a potentially deadly syndrome linked to coronavirus, Mayor de Blasio said Monday.
The news came after the feds confirmed that the condition it’s calling “multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children,” or MIS-C, is tied to COVID-19.
“This is important — we assumed it — but they have done additional research to 100% confirm it and released a national standard definition,” Hizzoner said at a press conference.
The syndrome has killed one 5-year-old boy in the city and two other children statewide, according to health officials.
While COVID -19 primarily attacks the lungs, PMIS causes inflammation in different parts of the body.
Symptoms include persistent fever, irritability or sluggishness, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, rash, red or pink eyes, enlarged lymph node gland on neck, red cracked lips or red tongue and swollen hands and feet, according to the Health Department.
Out of the 145 New York children that met these criteria, 67 of them tested positive for COVID-19 or for antibodies to the virus.
City officials urged parents to be vigilant for possible signs of the virus.
While the long list of symptoms is relatively common among kids, Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot previously said parents should be on guard for “when these things come together or when your child has a fever that doesn’t seem to be going away.”
The U.K. has reportedly seen eight cases of the syndrome, including one death, since late April.
City doctors began seeing signs of the same condition earlier this month.