FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF)- Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth has had 4 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, a Kawasaki-like illness that’s linked to COVID-19.
Dr. Nicolas Rister, Specialist for Pediatric Infectious Diseases, says 1 of the patients tested positive for COVID-19, the other 3 tested negative, however they were in contact with people with the virus. “We were able to track those three to a very strong exposure from people they were in contact with and a subsequent illness that would be consistent with COVID-19,” said Rister. “We are seeing general inflammation weeks after a primary COVID-19 infection. These are children that either had a strong exposure to the virus or had mild symptoms initially and a few weeks later had an inflammatory response to their immune system,” he said.
Rister said symptoms include flat red rashes all over your body, inflammation, fevers and redness in your eyes and mouth.
He said doctors at Cook Children’s were able to treat their patients effectively but it could be possible for patients to have increased risks of heart disease in the future.
“Any disease that can cause massive inflammation in your body can be very dangerous and in severe cases, can lead to multi-organ failure. That’s one of the reasons we treat so aggressively, to reduce that inflammation as fast as possible,” said Rister.
He tells parents to be vigilant and look out for symptoms, saying it’s relatively rare but can be fatal if not treated fast enough.
