No cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome reported in Allegheny County

Allegheny County officials are not yet aware of any cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in the county, a severe condition that has been spotted in areas that have been hot spots of the coronavirus.

“Which is a great relief, but we are watching this closely,” Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen said during a press briefing Wednesday.

The condition, which is comparable to a rare disease called Kawasaki Syndrome, causes swelling in blood vessels and could include symptoms like high fever, rash, conjunctivitis, swollen glands, bloodshot eyes and dry lips.

Doctors in Europe warned of the condition in April, and dozens of children in the United States have been hospitalized with the condition this month. Many showed signs of current or past coronavirus infections.

Doctors in Pittsburgh have stressed that there is not yet enough information about the condition to be alarmed.

“We have cared for kids with Kawasaki disease, and conditions like Kawasaki disease, for literally decades,” Dr. Terry Dermody, a virologist and physician-in-chief and scientific director at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, told the Tribune-Review earlier this month. “Despite years and years of searching for a cause, we’ve not come up with any certain link to Kawasaki disease, any infectious trigger. We all suspect that there is one, but we haven’t been able to identify it.”

Furthermore, Bogen said Wednesday that relatively few cases of covid-19 in Allegheny County have been diagnosed in children under 18.

Of the 1,828 confirmed or probable cases reported in the county as of Wednesday since the first case March 14, 48 cases — or about 2.6% — were reported in children 18 and younger, Bogen said.

The youngest person to have died from the coronavirus in Allegheny County was 42 years old and had underlying health conditions.

There have been 151 deaths in the county.

Health department officials on Wednesday also released details about some of the newest reported cases of covid-19, shedding light on how the virus has spread in recent weeks.

Of the 278 cases investigated by the department from May 6 to May 20, the most recent two-week period for which the department has complete data, 39 cases — 14% — are among health care workers.

Of those cases, 27 are employees at long-term care facilities.

Another 114 cases, or 41%, are residents in long-term care facilities.

Most of the 278 cases investigated by the department during that period — 201 people, or 72% — were linked to another known case.

No new cases were reported at the county jail or among first responders from May 6 to May 20, according to figures released by the county health department.

Of the 68 inmates at the Allegheny County Jail who have been tested for covid-19, 28 people have tested positive. All of them have either recovered or have been released from the facility, data posted to the county website Tuesday show.

Among staff at the jail, six people have tested positive among the 59 who were tested.