Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced during a press conference Monday that the state has two new cases of children diagnosed with an inflammatory syndrome that the Centers for Disease Control has said is associated with COVID-19.
Both children were hospitalized, but one, a 5-year-old, has returned home. The other, an 11-year-old, is still receiving medical care.
“We’re just watching this very carefully,” Beshear said. “It still appears to be very rare, but because it happened so many weeks, or as suggested, so many weeks after an initial positive test or potential contraction of the virus, it’s just really important for us to know what this is and to follow it very carefully.”
According to a slide presented during the press conference, symptoms of the Pediatric Multi-Symptom Inflammatory Syndrome (PMIS) include:
- Irritability or decreased activity
- Abdominal pain without another explanation
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Rash
- Conjunctivitis (red or pink eyes)
- Poor feeding
- Red, cracked lips or tongue that looks like a strawberry
- Swollen hands and feet, which might also be red
Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky commissioner for public health, reminded Kentuckians that children overwhelmingly do well when infected with COVID-19.
“This is essentially a situation where weeks after the child would have gotten over the initial infection, their immune system becomes overactive and attacks the blood vessels in their own body and causes a number of problems that can involve the heart and the kidneys,” Stack said, elaborating on the syndrome.
Kentucky confirmed its first case of the mysterious illness last week in a 10-year-old. That child had been been on a ventilator, and is improving but remains hospitalized. A 16-year-old Kentuckian has also been treated for the illness.
The Kentucky Department for Public Health issued a PMIS advisory last week and has a Pediatric COVID-19 Hotline (800-722-5725) staffed by Norton Children’s Hospital set up to answer questions from both parents and clinicians about the illness.
The CDC also issued their own emergency health alert regarding the syndrome, with guidance.
As of May 18, there are 7,935 confirmed coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 346 deaths and 2,785 recoveries. Beshear added that 122 new cases and 3 deaths were reported on Sunday and 138 new cases and 9 deaths were reported on Monday. According to Beshear, 145,238 Kentuckians have been tested for coronavirus.
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