Los Angeles County Public Health recorded 10 more cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) in children, bringing the total to 100 during the pandemic.

The condition is considered rare, but the CDC has found a link to the pandemic as a majority of the children had also been exposed to the COVID-19 virus during, or prior to the MIS-C diagnosis.

“We do not yet know what causes MIS-C,” the CDC says. “However, many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID-19, or had been around someone with COVID-19.”

According to the CDC, the syndrome affects those under 21 and symptoms include fever that does not go away, inflamed body parts that include the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes and internal organs.

In July 2020, L.A. Public Health informed physicians to MIS-C in patients under 21, as at the time, 15 had been diagnosed with the syndrome.

L.A. Public Health saw a 77% increase in cases over the last month and attributed the jump to a lag in the COVID-19 surge from late December and early January.

As of Thursday, L.A. Public Health recorded one death due to MISC-C and all children infected had to be hospitalized, with 40% being treated in the ICU.

Of the reported cases thus far, 30% were under the age of 5 years old, 40% were between the ages of 5 and 11 years old and 30% were between the ages of 12 and 20 years old.

Latino/Latinx children account for the highest percentage of reported MIS-C cases at 71%.

The most recent COVID-19 report identified a total of 1,187,474 positive cases of COVID-19 and a total of 21,102 deaths in L.A. county since the start of the pandemic. For the first time since November 2020, L.A. County reported less than 2,000 hospitalizations, with 1,988 on Thursday.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.