The state says an additional seven children have contracted a medical condition associated with COVID-19.
The cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, occurred between November and early January. It brings the total number of MIS-C cases in Idaho to 16.
In some of the new cases, medical providers filed reports near the time of the diagnosis, but public health investigations were completed only recently, the state Department of Health and Welfare said Thursday.
“MIS-C and other diagnoses for which there is no single confirmatory laboratory test can take longer to investigate,” Dr. Kathryn Turner, Idaho’s deputy state epidemiologist, said in a Health and Welfare news release.
The 16 MIS-C patients range in age from 3 to 16 years old. All 16 were hospitalized, and seven were kept overnight in an intensive care unit. No Idaho children have died of MIS-C.
MIS-C can cause inflammation of the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs, according to the Centers for Disease Control. While the exact cause of MIS-C is unknown, many MIS-C patients have had the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, or have been exposed to COVID-19.
Health and Welfare recommends controlling the spread of MIS-C through the same safeguards recommended for COVID-19 — such as facial coverings, social distancing and frequent hand-washing.
