First Case Of Coronavirus-Related Child Disorder Reported In WI

MILWAUKEE, WI — The first case of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, a serious health disorder that appears to be related to COVID-19, has been reported in Wisconsin.

On Friday, officials at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin announced they identified the first suspected cases of MIS-C in the state. These cases have been reported to The Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

According to a WISN 12 report, a reporter asked Children's Hospital whether they had seen any cases on May 13, and learned they hadn't seen any. That situation has changed since then, the station is reporting.

According to health officials, MIS-C is a new and rare inflammatory response that causes swelling in different organs, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs.

MIS-C has been seen in some children who have been infected by or exposed to COVID-19 and can appear as several different symptoms, including a persistent high fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, swelling of the hands and feet, and red eyes and tongue.

Most children diagnosed with MIS-C have recovered with brief hospital stays, and in some cases no hospitalization was required, Children's Hospital officials said Friday.

When MIS-C was first identified globally and in the United States in late April and early May, officials at Children’s Wisconsin said they created a team to help identify and treat children with suspected MIS-C.

The team includes pediatric experts from critical care, infectious disease, hospital medicine, immunology, emergency medicine, rheumatology, hematology, cardiology, and primary care.

They are all working together to make sure we are able to provide the best, most up-to-date care.

What don't we know about MIS-C yet

Because MIS-C was so recently identified, there is still a lot about the disorder that remains unknown. The CDC says they do not know why some children have gotten sick with MIS-C, when other young coronavirus patients have recovered just fine. They also do not know if MIS-C is sparked by other health factors or if there are ways to predict which children will come down with the syndrome.

The Centers for Disease Control say they're trying to learn more, but research is still in the early stages. The majority of MIS-C confirmed across the nation have been reported in New York, where more than 27,000 people have died from complications linked to COVID-19. The CDC has sent a team to New York to investigate the cases there. They also say they are in contact with other public health agencies around the world trying to track down any new information they can about the syndrome.

Additional Reporting By Charles Woodman, Patch Staff