“We need to shut this disease down before we have our kids affected by it,” Patterson said referring to the coronavirus.
Clark County’s first case of the syndrome was in a patient under the age of 5 years old back in July. It was only the eighth reported case of MIS-C in Ohio, Patterson said at the time.
It is unclear when the other cases were diagnosed, however, no one diagnosed with MIS-C in the county has died.
“We’ve had two African American children and two white children,” Patterson said.
As of March 1, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been somewhere between 50 to 99 reported cases of MIS-C in Ohio since May 2020. Nationwide there has been roughly 2,617 cases across 48 states. About 33 of those cases have been fatal.
MIS-C is a rare syndrome in children and teens, mostly between the ages of four and 15, associated with the COVID-19, according to the CCCHD. The syndrome can be fatal if left untreated.
The inflammatory syndrome causes inflammation of the blood vessels throughout the body, causing limited blood flow which can damage the heart, kidneys and other organs, according to the CCCHD.
MIS-C was first identified in New York City and the state of New York in May 2020 after doctors who were treating children who had recovered from COVID-19 noticed the children begin to experience “an odd set of symptoms,” Patterson said previously.
“We do not yet know what causes MIS-C,” the CDC’s website says. “However, many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID-19, or had been around someone with COVID-19.”
Symptoms usually develop within four weeks of being exposed to COVID-19 and include fever, unusual weakness or fatigue, a red rash, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, red/cracked lips, red eyes and swollen hands or feet, according to the CDC.
There is no one medication used to fight the syndrome, according to the CDC. Instead, doctors are advised to use a combination of anti-inflammatory medications.
Patterson said the best way to prevent your child from contracting MIS-C is to practice coronavirus prevention habits like wearing a mask and social distancing because the county has been seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases among “younger individuals.”
“We need the help of all citizens in Clark County to get back on the right track. We’re not out of the woods yet,” Patterson said.
Clark County had 13,048 cases and 280 deaths of the coronavirus as of Monday afternoon, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Daily coronavirus cases remained steady in Ohio as the state reported 1,497 daily cases on Monday, according to ODH. Over the last 21 days, the state has reported an average of 1,590 cases a day.
Throughout the pandemic, Ohio has recorded 1,013,119 total COVID-19 cases, according to ODH.
Facts & Figures:
4: Cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) diagnosed in Clark County since May 2020
50-99: Cases of MIS-C diagnosed in Ohio since May 2020, according to the CDC
33: Fatal cases of MIS-C nationwide, according to the CDC
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