A GNYHA webinar last week highlighted the perspectives of multiple pediatric subspecialists on treating COVID-19-associated Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) outside the critical care setting. The webinar was a joint effort between GNYHA and the New York Region of Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS), in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health (DOH) and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).
Commissioner Howard A. Zucker, MD, JD, in opening remarks stated that DOH is currently working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to inform other states about MIS-C. Performing DNA tests to determine whether there is a genetic variation that makes some children more susceptible to MIS-C is the current focus.
Ellen H. Lee, MD, Medical Director, General Surveillance, DOHMH Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, presented epidemiologic and demographic data for reported cases in New York City. Dr. Lee provided a summary of the epidemiology for MIS-C in New York City. According to preliminary DOHMH data, 220 reports of suspected MIS-C have been received, 141 of which met the CDC case definition, and one death has been reported in the City. Most cases have occurred in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and the age groups impacted the most are five- to nine-year-old children, with 35% of cases, followed by infants up to age four, with 30% of cases. In most cases, the children infected with MIS-C are African American and Hispanic.
The webinar helped participants to recognize the spectrum of presentations of MIS-C, including how to differentiate it from other diseases; identify the manifestations and complications of MIS-C; understand the rationale for various treatment options; and appreciate the prognosis and possible sequelae of MIS-C. The discussion was facilitated by Nina Osorio, MD, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital and leader of the SPS New York region.
Panelists included:
- Karen Acker, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and Hospital Epidemiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
- Suchitra Acharya, MD, Director of the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center and Program Head of the Bleeding Disorders and Thrombosis Program at Cohen Children’s Medical Center
- Dawn Wahezi, MD, Chief of Pediatric Rheumatology and Director of the Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
- Rachel Weller, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Member of the MIS-C Inpatient/Outpatient Cardiac Consult Team at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.