What is pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome? Yahoo News Explains

A mysterious new illness, possibly related to the coronavirus, that’s affecting children is causing concern among parents and the medical community. While most children who test positive for COVID-19 are asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms, there are a growing number of children experiencing high fevers, inflammation and gastrointestinal issues that have resulted in at least 3 fatalities. As more data becomes available, the pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, often described as Kawasaki-like, remains as baffling as it is rare. Yahoo News Medical Contributor Kavita Patel explains what we know so far.

Video Transcript

KAVITA PATEL: A new health alert out of New York City suggests that children may not be as resilient to COVID-19 as previously thought.

- Growing concerns over a mysterious illness that's seen in children that may be linked to the coronavirus.

- An inflammatory condition, possibly connected to coronavirus, suddenly affecting dozens of kids in New York.

KAVITA PATEL: So most children who actually have coronavirus or COVID-19 don't have any symptoms. And then for those select children who are hospitalized, those children generally have respiratory symptoms. And then of a smaller subset of these hundreds of patients, there are patients that have this pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

Common symptoms include high fevers, some involvement of the gastrointestinal tract, so some reporting of either nausea or vomiting or an upset stomach, and also a description of some skin involvement, everything from what we've called COVID toes all the way to other types of rashes. There are patients that have this syndrome who are not positive for the virus, but are positive for the antibodies to the virus, which makes the virus a culprit. But it's not clear if this is the actual virus attacking the cells in the body and creating an inflammatory response, or if it's actually a delayed response to recovering from the infection. But the body is so overwhelmed in trying to recover that it also elicits this inflammatory response.

- Some of the symptoms go in line with Kawasaki disease.

ANDREW CUOMO: Symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease.

- Similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome.

KAVITA PATEL: So a lot of people are trying to describe this multisystem inflammatory syndrome as Kawasaki-like. But just to be clear, it is not exactly like Kawasaki's disease. And it differs not only in some of the aspects of the symptoms, but it also differs in the response to treatments.

- It is a small percentage, but it is quite frightening.

- We certainly do not think this is a common presenting syndrome. And we are absolutely trying to identify across the world what other features we share with other countries that might have a similar experience. And most pediatricians across the country are asking any parents who have children that have had high fevers or sustained fevers, and any of these unusual symptoms-- GI, stomach, skin, eye involvement-- to come, or at least to call and see if they should be tested.

So that's what we know now. And I suspect that we'll know a lot more as scientists share the clinical experiences around the world.