In the past two weeks in Israel, one child has died and 35 have been hospitalized, one in critical condition, due to a surge in cases of Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome (PIMS), according to local media.
According to the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, PIMS is rare, occurring in fewer than 0.5 percent of children who have (or who have had) COVID-19. Most children with the condition will not be seriously affected but, in a very small number of cases, it can be serious.
Professor Yehuda Adler, a senior cardiologist and former chairman of the European Cardiological Association for Membrane and Cardiovascular Diseases, told Israel’s Channel 12 news on Sunday that the syndrome is seen more frequently in children aged 6 to 16.
“It is manifested by high fever, abdominal pain and headaches,” said Adler, and “could lead to a rapid need for evacuation in intensive care and dysfunction of various organs in the body. “
“This syndrome is very similar to Kawasaki disease,” said Adler, “and it affects the arteries of the heart and causes them to dilate.”
Adler emphasized that parents need not panic, as the syndrome is “very rare.”
To date, at least 120 cases of PIMS have been diagnosed in Israel, but in practice, the number may be higher, reported Channel 12. According to Israel Pediatrics Association chairman Tzachi Grossman, some 100 children and adolescents suffering from PIMS have been hospitalized in critical condition since the onset of the pandemic.
Aden Jamal Fayoumi, the 16-year-old boy from Jaljulia in central Israel who died of PIMS on Saturday, is believed to be the first person in the country to die of the syndrome.
