What to Know
- New York state health officials are investigating 102 children who may have been diagnosed with a recently identified illness associated with COVID-19 that some doctors are referring to as "pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome"
- At least three children have died in New York; another two deaths are being investigated for a possible link to the syndrome. Some 14 states have now confirmed cases
- Doctors say in some cases, kids are taking up to 6 weeks after exposure to the virus to present with symptoms of this illness
Amber Dean had recovered from a mild bout of the coronavirus and her family of five had just ended their home quarantine when her oldest son, 9-year-old Bobby, fell ill.
“At first it was nothing major, it seemed like a tummy bug, like he ate something that didn't agree with him,” said Dean, who lives with her husband and three young children in the western New York town of Hornell. “But by the next day, he couldn't keep anything down and his belly hurt so bad he couldn't sit up.”
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At the local hospital emergency room, doctors suspected an appendix infection and sent him home with instructions to see his pediatrician.
It was only later, after Bobby's condition took an alarming turn for the worse, that doctors realized he was among the small but growing number of children with a mysterious inflammatory syndrome thought to be related to the virus.
News 4 first drew attention to the emerging condition in New York, spurring health alerts from New York City and later the state, which is now warning its 49 other counterparts about the potential dangers and what symptoms to watch. At least 14 states and five European countries have now identified cases.
Local
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that New York is now investigating about 102 cases of the condition known as pediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome (PIMS), which affects blood vessels and organs and has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock. Three children in the state have died, including a 5-year-old New York City boy. Two more deaths are being investigated for possible connection to the syndrome. Cuomo has advised all hospitals to prioritize COVID-19 testing for children presenting with symptoms.
New York City has confirmed at least 82 cases of the syndrome in children, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. Fifty-three of the children tested positive for COVID-19 or had the antibodies.
The city is launching a digital advertising campaign Wednesday, with ads expected to hit TV, radio, bus shelters and other places throughout the five boroughs in the coming weeks advising parents what to look for.
Early detection can prevent serious illness or death, the mayor says. He is urging parents to call their pediatricians promptly if their children show symptoms including persistent fever, rash, abdominal pain and vomiting
That's what Bobby Dean's family did, even though they live in Steuben County, which has only 239 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and is in a part of the state set to start reopening some workplaces on Friday.
The family doctor performed a coronavirus test the day after his trip to the emergency room, but the results would take 24 hours. By that night, the boy's fever had spiked, his abdomen was swollen, he was severely dehydrated and his heart was racing. His father, Michael Dean, drove him to Golisano Children's Hospital in Rochester, 90 minutes away.
“At Rochester they did a rapid COVID test and it came back positive,” Amber Dean said. For the next six days, she was at his hospital bedside while Bobby was hooked up to IV lines and a heart monitor. He came home on Mother's Day.
“It never affected his respiratory system, it was his heart that it affected,” Dean said. Inflamed lymph nodes caused the abdominal pain, she said. “They're hoping he pulls through with 100% recovery but they said there have been children with lasting effects.”
Children elsewhere in the U.S. and in Europe have also been hospitalized with the condition. New Jersey is said to be investigating up to eight cases.
In New York, the syndrome has been found across a wide range of young people. A 5-year-old boy, 7-year-old boy and an 18-year-old woman have died.
About 23 percent of cases have occurred in children under age 5, about 29% between the ages of 5 and 9, about 28% between ages 10 and 14 and 16% between the ages 15 and 19.
“This is a truly disturbing situation and I know parents around the state and parents around the country are very concerned about this, and they should be,” Cuomo said. “If we have this issue in New York it's probably in other states.”
Dr. Juan Salazar, the physician-in-chief at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, said two patients there are believed to have the rare condition, which he said often appears to present itself two to four weeks after a child has recovered from COVID-19, often without ever being diagnosed with the infection. Yale Health has said it has treated five children believed to have the syndrome, with one discharged and the others still being treated. The hospital said the four patients are "doing OK right now, but we continue to watch this with concern."
While state officials didn't list how many cases there were, Connecticut officials said they've sent and alert to all providers asking them to report cases.
Cuomo announced last week that New York is developing national criteria for identifying and responding to the syndrome at the request of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New Jersey added itself to the list Wednesday, confirming for the first time a total of 18 cases in kids ages 3-18 -- including seven new cases just reported Wednesday morning.
In testimony Tuesday before a Senate committee on the administration’s coronavirus response, Dr. Anthony Fauci said children in general do better than adults and the elderly, but he warned there is still much to learn about the virus.
“For example right now, children presenting with COVID-19 who actually have a very strange inflammatory syndrome very similar to Kawasaki syndrome,” Fauci said. “I think we better be very careful that we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects.”
As Bobby Dean’s boisterous energy and sardonic sense of humor returns, his mom is vigilant for signs of illness in her younger children, aged 7 months and 3 years.
“It’s a pretty scary thing, watching your child be hooked up to all these wires and IVs and there’s nothing you can do,” Dean said. “In my opinion, right now, I would not let your child out in public.”
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Jake Seiner contributed to this story from New York.
