By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Health authorities on Wednesday reported Guam's first physician-diagnosed case of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) associated with Covid-19.
The case was detected on Oct. 4, according to the Department of Public Health and Social Services.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MIS-C is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.
"We do not yet know what causes MIS-C," CDC said. "However, we know that many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes Covid-19 or had been around someone with Covid-19. MIS-C can be serious, even deadly, but most children who were diagnosed with this condition have gotten better with medical care."
The department advised all healthcare providers on Guam to be on alert for possible cases of MIS-C and to report them to the agency.
Patients under 21 years of age with MIS-C have presented with persistent fever, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, skin rash, bloodshot eyes, dizziness or lightheadedness (signs of low blood pressure), fatigue, and a variety of signs and symptoms, including multiorgan involvement, (e.g., cardiac, gastrointestinal, renal, hematologic, dermatologic, neurologic) and elevated inflammatory markers.
DPHSS said not all children will have the same signs and symptoms, and some children may have symptoms not listed here.
MIS-C may begin weeks after a child is infected with SARS-CoV-2. The individual may have been infected from an asymptomatic contact and, in some cases, the child and their caregivers may not even know they had been infected.
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