Some Jacksonville hospitals reporting increase in condition linked to COVID-19
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Hospitals in Jacksonville are reporting an increase in cases of MIS-C, a rare inflammatory condition linked to COVID-19 that is found in children.
Dr. Mobeen Rathore, a pediatric infectious disease expert with Wolfson Children’s hospital in Jacksonville, says the hospital typically sees MIS-C cases four to six weeks after a surge of COVID-19 in the community. It can take that long after a child is infected for MIS-C symptoms to appear.
On New Year’s Day, cases of COVID-19 surged in Florida and stayed high until mid-January. In January, Wolfson Children’s Hospital went from zero cases of MIS-C to three diagnosed patients with the rare illness.
20-30% increase in local children infected with COVID-19
Pediatrician says community needs to understand children can die from complications of virus
Jennifer Waugh, The Morning Show anchor, I-Team reporter
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There has been a 20-30% increase in the number of children who have caught COVID-19 in the last several weeks, according to Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen, chief of Community and Societal Pediatrics for UF Health Jacksonville.
“They can get sick, they can spread the disease and they can die from the disease,” said Goldhagen, who has warned the public since the pandemic started that any information it has heard that suggests children cannot get sick is “wrong.”
At just 8 years old, Deaurra Nealy wanted to connect with people online.
“She was always on her TikTok,” said her father, Dearick Nealy, recounting videos Deaurra posted on the social media platform and her hope of becoming an influencer.
This week, people in far-flung Florida communities were connected by sorrow when they learned the Jacksonville second-grade student had died after showing symptoms of an inflammatory syndrome tied to COVID-19.
“I’d never heard of this syndrome before she became sick,” said Nealy, 31.
Deaurra, nicknamed Aurri, had tested negative for the coronavirus, but Nealy said a subsequent test suggested she had been exposed to the virus and developed antibodies despite never showing symptoms of infection.
A Florida family is grieving the loss of an 8-year-old girl who died after showing signs of a rare but serious syndrome related to the novel coronavirus, her father said.