The syndrome, according to Dr. Mark Buchholtz, a pediatric critical care physician at Randall, is similar to Kawasaki disease, an illness that causes inflamed blood vessels. But the syndrome presents somewhat differently.
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“We have not seen this before,” Buchholtz said.
He said the girl was otherwise healthy and had no significant medical history. She did, however, test positive for antibodies of COVID-19.
“She’s been following all of the recommendations,” Buchholtz said, “sheltering in place, not going to school.”
“She has been to the grocery store but she has not been around anyone sick,” he added. “She’s been wearing a mask and none of her family members have been sick.”
Doctors don’t know when the girl contracted the virus, only that she recovered from it and then came down with the syndrome, which is not communicable.
At Randall, doctors were able to stabilize the girl with a combination of medications to increase her blood pressure and decrease her immune response. After 48 hours, Buchholtz said, she was feeling much better.
She is still on medication to help her heart but Buchholtz thinks she may be able to go home within a week.
“But it is day by day,” Buchholtz said, noting the condition was identified on April 28 and there are many questions about what the long-term impacts of the disease may be.
In other parts of the country, victims of the new disease have not been so lucky. In New York, three children have died from the syndrome.
One effect of coronavirus has been a reluctance to go see doctors and go to emergency rooms, Buchholtz said. This is concerning for many reasons, but it is imperative, he said, that parents take children exhibiting symptoms of pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome to a healthcare professional immediately.
Those symptoms may include unexplained fever, abdominal pain or pink eye.
“We are working to get our word out to the community that this is out there, it is not just in New York and California,” Buchholtz said. “We are seeing it.”
Buchholtz urged parents of children with symptoms of any serious condition, including fractures and sprains, to seek medical attention.
“The pediatricians and the docs have it set up in their offices to do this safely,” he said. “It’s far better for the child to be treated earlier than later.”
— Lizzy Acker
503-221-8052, [email protected], @lizzzyacker
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