B.C. has reported its first suspected cases of a rare inflammatory disorder that's been associated with COVID-19 in some parts of the world.
Eight children were diagnosed with suspected Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday.
All of the children have fully recovered, however, they had all been in hospital and two had been admitted to intensive care.
The patients included five boys and three girls, with an average age of four years old, said Henry.
They were admitted to hospital because of concerns around inflammation of the heart and blood vessels, as well as a “shock-like syndrome,” she said.
The children were diagnosed with suspected MIS-C as none had tested positive for COVID-19.
“They didn’t have antibodies either, and they had no known exposures to COVID-19 cases,” said Henry.
B.C. is now reporting the suspected cases due to a change in case definitions and reporting criteria in Canada, but has been monitoring the condition since March when it was first identified.
“Previously, what we were reporting was only confirmed cases, and confirmed cases means you have a laboratory test or you’ve been a contact of somebody with COVID-19,” said Henry.
“I think it is reassuring that we’ve had eight cases that have been reported, they’ve all been investigated – none of them have been confirmed,” she added. “So that is also a reflection of the fact that we have low transmission rates in our population.”
The inflammatory condition – which can present similar to Kawasaki syndrome, toxic shock syndrome and macrophage activation syndrome – has been “temporally linked” to COVID-19, according to a bulletin posted to the BC Centre for Disease Control’s website.
MIS-C can show a “constellation” of symptoms in some children, said Henry, including prolonged fever, red eyes, skin rash, fatigue, abdominal pain and vomiting.
In some cases, it can cause an inflammation of the heart and blood vessels, she added.
However, the condition is “rare,” Henry said.
“For all of the children that we’ve seen around the world that have had COVID, there are still very small numbers of this associated with that.”
