COVID-19 is still a very unfamiliar disease to medical experts, and it is still unclear as to why some children develop multi-system inflammatory syndrome.
But medical doctors such as Driscoll Children's Hospital Director of Infectious Diseases Dr. Jaime Fergie said most children who develop it are unaware they had COVID-19 until tests are done.
"Keep in mind that, (the) majority of the time, the patient will be diagnosed first with a prolonged fever," he said. "Then we will do blood tests and find out that child had COVID(-19) some time ago.”
City-County Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez said one Nueces County child and three others from surrounding Coastal Bend counties were hospitalized at Driscoll Children's Hospital after developing MIS-C.
Rodriguez said the children did seem to be healthy, with no underlying health conditions, but they did all have something in common.
“The only thing that we did notice, across the board with all four of them, is that they are a little overweight," she said. "So their (body-mass index) is a little higher.”
The children were hospitalized for an average of 11 to 12 days. Fergie said this illness is serious, and requires intensive care, but doctors at Driscoll Children's Hospital are prepared for it.
"I want to reassure the public that, here at Driscoll Children's Hospital, we have the facilities, the doctors, the nurses, the therapists; everybody who can really take care of this problem,” he said.
Symptoms to look out for include a prolonged fever, red eyes, a red skin rash, nausea and vomiting, a high heart rate and low-blood pressure.
If your child does have a prolonged fever and fits many of the symptoms previously mentioned, you should call their doctor immediately.