A 4-year-old Chicago girl believed to be among the first diagnosed with a childhood "mystery" illness linked to coronavirus went home from the hospital this week after seven days on a ventilator.
Amelia Ateca's caregivers lined the halls of Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, clapping and cheering as she held a sign that read "I Beat Covid."
Amelia was diagnosed with the pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus in early May after going to the hospital in late April with symptoms of a fever and gastrointestinal issues.
She got progressively worse, according to the hospital, and spent seven days on a ventilator before recovering and now returning home.
According to the hospital, Amelia’s parents and their younger daughter all tested positive for COVID antibodies, "suggesting that the family unknowingly did have the virus earlier in the year."
Amelia arrives home in time for her 5th birthday this weekend.
The condition, which the CDC calls "multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children," or MIS-C, has been reported in at least 19 states including Illinois.
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During Thursday’s coronavirus press briefing, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said a team of Illinois doctors along with specialists in Kawasaki disease met to discuss the condition and develop a strategy to better track cases.
“The goals of the meeting were to identify the specific features of the spectrum of disorders and to be looking out for a constellation of symptoms so that they can in fact, start reporting new cases going forward and also turn back and look at cases that might fit this description that they've seen in the past,” Ezike said. “We'll put that guidance out next week and then we'll be collecting the data to get a formal report.”
