State issues warning about inflammatory syndrome in children

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Health issued a warning Wednesday about Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C).

MIS-C is a condition where different body parts can become in flamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. The cause of MIS-C is unknown but many children with this condition had the virus that causes COVID-19 or had been exposed to someone with COVID-19.

In Louisiana, 13 cases and one death of a young person have been reported. To respect the privacy of the young person and their family, the Department of Health will not share additional information about the death at this time.

The CDC defines a case as MIS-C when the patient is under the age of 21, with a fever, laboratory evidence of inflammation, and severe illness involving more than two organs that requires hospitalization; and there have been no other plausible diagnoses and the patient has tested positive for COVID-19 or been exposed to a confirmed case within the four weeks prior to the onset of symptoms.

As of Thursday afternoon among the 13 cases in Louisiana:

• The age range was 0-19 years old.

• The median age was 11 years old.

• Six of the patients were female and seven were male.

• Four are currently hospitalized and eight have been discharged.

• In terms of race, seven are African American, three are white and three fit in the “other” category.

• In terms of ethnicity, two are Hispanic and 11 are non-Hispanic.

The Louisiana Department of Health will update information on MIS-C each Monday on its coronavirus webpage.

Providers who have cared for or who are caring for patients younger than 21 years of age meeting MIS-C criteria should immediately report these cases to the Louisiana Office of Public Health Infectious Disease Epidemiology Team.