L.A. County’s First COVID-19 Death in a Child

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) (Photo – cdc.gov)

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has tragically confirmed the first COVID-19 death in a L.A. County child under the age of 18 years old.

By News Desk

The child was hospitalized for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and had severe underlying health conditions. The child that passed away is also the first MIS-C associated death in L.A. County. MIS-C is the inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 that can damage multiple organ systems, require hospitalization, and be life-threatening.

MIS-C

To date, Public Health has confirmed 45 children with MIS-C in L.A. County. All were hospitalized and 50% of the children were treated in the ICU. Of the children with MIS-C:

• 27% were under the age of 5 years old.
• 38% were between the ages of 5 and 11 years old.
• 35% were between the ages of 12 and 20 years old.

Latino/Latinx children account for 73% of the reported cases.

MIS-C symptoms include fever that does not go away and inflamed body parts, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. If you believe your child is displaying MIS-C symptoms, contact your primary care provider. If you do not have a primary care provider, dial 2-1-1 and L.A. County will help connect you to one.

COVID-19

On Thursday, Dec. 10. L.A. County’s Public Health has confirmed 74 new deaths and 12,819 new cases of COVID-19. Today’s number of new cases surpassed the previous high on December 6 when the County experienced 10,528 new COVID-19 cases. L.A. County continues to experience high number of new deaths and more new cases reported each day for COVID-19 than at any point during the pandemic.

There are 3,433 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 23% of these people are in the ICU. Just in the past two days, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has increased by more than 300.

To date, Public Health identified 487,917 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 8,149 deaths.