According to a local report, a rare but potentially serious coronavirus-related syndrome could be behind the death of a doctor in Tennessee.
Dr. Barton Williams, a 36-year-old orthopedic doctor in Memphis, is thought to have died of multisystem inflammation syndrome in adults (MIS-A).
The condition, which is similar to Kawasaki disease, has affected children more frequently since the beginning of the pandemic; multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) usually involves shock, heart function, abdominal pain and hyper-inflammation, among others.
Williams, who died at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis last week, may have experienced an asymptomatic case of COVID-19 at some point, Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, an expert in infectious diseases, told a local news station.
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Similar to children who develop MIS-C, adults who develop MIS-A usually do so in the weeks following a coronavirus infection, which is thought to be a delayed immune response to the virus.
Threlkeld told the Daily Memphian that Williams tested negative for COVID-19 in the hospital several times, but that it later contained antibodies to the virus against natural coronavirus infection, in addition to those that created his immune system after receiving the vaccine.
“The response of the immune system is to eradicate the virus. One of its most important characteristics is the ability to eliminate itself when it is done,” said Dr. Scott Strome, executive dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, said. the Daily Memphian.
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“It needs to know when it’s done. If it’s not, you’re getting an autoimmune situation. Whatever the reason, the body still thinks it’s a threat and does not turn it off. Then get in. u this systematic inflammation, “he added.
Yet MIS-A is not yet the definitive cause of Williams’ death, and Threlkeld noted that an autopsy is still pending. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also investigating the death of the man, he said.
“It is difficult to draw comprehensive conclusions in any direction when talking about something that has never been reported before,” Threlkeld told the newspaper. “It was previously reported that no one had this disease (MIS) who had the vaccine. Thirty-three million people have been vaccinated in the United States so far and it is reported that none of the people have this process. “Only people who have had the real infections with SARS-CoV-2 have had this process.”
The CDC in October identified MIS-A for the first time, based on reports from 27 patients who had “cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, dermatological and neurological symptoms without severe respiratory disease and simultaneously received positive test results for SARS-CoV-2. . “
Much is still unknown about MIS-A, with a great deal of uncertainty about the timeline from SARS-CoV-2 infection to MIS-A onset. However, the CDC reports that “MIS-A and MIS-C may represent post-infectious processes.” Adults who reported typical COVID-19 symptoms developed MIS-A approximately two to five weeks later.
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Patients with MIS-A may not be positive for COVID-19, given the onset of the syndrome weeks later. The agency stressed the importance of antibody testing for previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in recognizing and treating MIS-A.
“Findings suggest that adult patients of all ages with current or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection may develop a hyperinflammatory syndrome that resembles MIS-C,” the authors wrote at the time, adding that COVID-19 distribution measures limiting can help prevent MIS. -A.
Foxla’s Kayla Rivas contributed to this report.