First Coronavirus-related Syndrome Affecting Children Reported in McKinley County

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By Donovan Quintero

May 30, 2020

Editor's Note: This article originally published the Navajo Times. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

WINDOW ROCK — A syndrome associated with the coronavirus that affects children has affected an infant in McKinley County.

Called, Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C, the infant was diagnosed with a fever, cough, and rash, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

The infant tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized for hypoxemia, or shortness of breath.

The child was discharged from the hospital.

NMDOH said MIS-C was first reported on April 26, in the United Kingdom. Health officials began diagnosing healthy children with severe inflammatory syndrome with Kawasaki disease-like features. The cases occurred in children testing positive for current or recent infection by the coronavirus.

In early May 2020, the New York City Department of Health received reports of children, between the ages of 2 and 15 years of age, with MIS-C. A total of 64 children were diagnosed with the syndrome.

NMDOH said there is limited information currently available about MIS-C. They added doctors do not have a treatment for the syndrome, but say the young patients have “an epidemiologic link to a COVID-19 case.”

The CDC is requesting healthcare providers to report suspected cases to public health authorities to better characterize this newly recognized condition.

Healthcare providers who have cared or are caring for patients younger than 21 years of age meeting MIS-C criteria should report suspected cases to NMDOH Epidemiology and Response division at 1-855- 600-3453.

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