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Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital Seeing More Mysterious Illness Linked To COVID-19

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Courtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Vanderbilt's children's hospital still has a COVID patient count in the single digits, but the hospital is also treating more seasonal respiratory viruses than usual.
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A mysterious illness related to COVID-19 is beginning to show up in Tennessee, according to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

It’s still very rare. Tennessee has seen fewer than 10 cases of what’s known as multi-inflammatory syndrome in children. That’s out of 29,000 cases of COVID-19 in Tennesseans 20 and younger. But the medical center has treated five children since mid-July.

Symptoms usually develop several weeks after recovering from COVID-19 and include a myriad of conditions ranging from abdominal pain to bloodshot eyes.

Dr. Ritu Banerjee, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt, says there appears to be a strong connection between COVID-19 and multi-inflammatory syndrome in children, “but what we don’t understand is why, though we think it is an inflammatory response.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 children have died from the condition nationwide out of nearly 800 cases. Banerjee says the most effective way to deal with the syndrome is preventing COVID-19 in the first place through masks and social distance.

Blake Farmer, Host, This Is Nashville

Blake Farmer is the host of “This Is Nashville,” the flagship weekday show of Nashville Public Radio. Previously, Blake spent 16 years at WPLN News, serving as host, editor and news director. Before a two-year radio hiatus with a Nashville-based healthcare company, Blake was one of the country’s most prolific healthcare audio journalists. He produced stories for both local and national programs, extending the reach of his reporting through a partnership with KFF Health News. Outside of work, Blake can be found running or biking on roads that other Nashvillians consider too busy for such activities. So far, he has always made it home to his wife of 20 years and two children.

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