Video: Boston doctor provides COVID-19 guidance for families in high-risk Massachusetts counties
Updated: 11:32 AM EDT May 7, 2022
JENNIFER: THANK YOU. MORE THAN TWO YEARS INTO THE PANDEMIC AND NOW I DO MEDICAL CONCERN RFO CHILDREN IS SURFACING. RHONDELLA: HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IS DR. VANDANA MADHAVAN, CLINICAL DIRECTOR OF PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASET A MASS GENERAL HOSPITAL FOR CHILDR.EN BEFORE WE GET TO OUR QUESTIONS ABOUT COVID, WHAT CAN U TELLYO US ABOUT THE MYSTERIOUS HEPATITIS OUTBREAK? AND GOOD MORNGNI TO YOU. DR. MADHAVAN: GOOD MORNING. SINCE OCTOB, ERTHERE HAVE BEEN ONE HUNDRED CASES OF SEVERE HEPATITIS, INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER, WHICH CAN PRESENT WITH JAUNDICE, ELEVATION OF LIVER ZYMES.EN THESE ARE CASES WHERE MANY OF THE CAS SEHAVE BEEN SO SEVERE THAT CHILDREN VEHA NEEDED LIVER TRANSPLANTS AND A LOOFT SUPPORT. ABOUT 50% OF THEES CASES, A VIRUS INFECTION HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED. DESPITE THE FACT THERE HAVE BEEN OVER 100 CASES, THERE IS STILL A LOOFT INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE IF THEY ARE RELATED. IT DOES NOT SEEM TO BE RELATED TO COVID. IT SEEMS TO BE A SEPARATE MINI OUTBREAK. JENNIFER: YOU KINOFD JUST ANSWERED MY NEXT QUESTIONS. PARENTS START TO WONDER, WHAT IS ETH LINK? IS THERE ANY POSSIBILITY TO DO WI ATH PREVIOUS COVID INFECTION? DR. MADHAVAN: IT DOES NOT SEEM TO BE RELATED. THEES OUTBRKSEA, THESE CASES OF HEPATITIS DO NOT SEEM TO BE RELADTE TO AN EARLIER COVID INFECTION. THAT SPECIFICALLY HAS BEEN LOEDOK AT AND HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A LINK. RHONDEA:LL WE WANT TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CDC MAP. THEY ARE ALL IN RED, THE HIGHEST RISK CATEGORY. WHAT TO THOSE FAMILIES NEED TO KNOW? DR. MADHANAV: HUGE CHANGES HAPPEN THURSDAY EVENING. REMEMBERING WHILE EVEN IN GREEN, EVERYONE SHOULD BE VIGILANT, TESTING IF APPROPRIATE, GETTING VACCINATED AS THE COLORS RISE FROM YELLOW TO RED, RED MEANS INDOOR MASKING IS RECOMMENDED FOR EVERYONE, NOT JUST THOSE AT HIGHEST RISK. INDOOR MASKING AND EVEN MORE VIGILANCE IS RECOMMEND.ED NOTING THAT DESPITE THE LACK OF MANDATES, MASKING IS STILL RECOMMENDDE FOR INDOOR TRANSPORTATIONEN VUES. JENNIFER: WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN A MONTH LEFT OF SCHOOL. DO YOU THINK SCHOOLS IN THOSE COUNTIES SHOULD CONSIDER BRINGING BKAC THEIR MASK MANDATES? DR. MADHANAV: I THINK THEY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD. INDIVIDUAL TOWNS AND COMMUTINIES SHOULD LOOK AT WHAT IS GOING ON, NOTING THAT THESE ARE MARKERS OF COMMUNITY SPREAD. OBVIOUSLY CHILDREN ARE AFFECTED AS WELL. CHILDREN ARE IN THESE INDOOR SETTINGS FOR MULTIPLE HOURS A DAY. THE WEATHER IS WARMING UP BUT SCOLHO MASK MANDATES SHOULD BE RECONSIDERED. RHONDELLA: MOST FAMILIES ARE TESTING AT HOME NOW FOR COVID. IF THE RESULTS ARE POSITE,IV BUT THE SYMPTOMS ARE MILD DOES THE , PEDIATRICIAN STILL NEED TO KNOW? WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE DO? DR. MADHANAV: IT IS IMPORTANT TO REPORT.HANAV: IT IS IMPORTANT TO IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW, THAT IS PART OF A CHILD’S HISTORY. IF THERE IS AN UNEXAINEDPL HISTORY DOWN THE RDOA, IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO OWKN IF THERE ARE VISITS COMING UP THAT A CHILD MIGHT STILL BE IN THE ISOLATION PERIOD AND BE CONVERTED TO A TELEHEALTH VISIT. IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW IF A CHILISD POSITIVE BUT IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE AN URGENT MESSAGE. JENNIFER: DR.AD MHAVAN CLINICAL , DIRECTOR OF PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE AT MASS GENELRA HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN, AND THEOM M OF TWO B
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Video: Boston doctor provides COVID-19 guidance for families in high-risk Massachusetts counties
Updated: 11:32 AM EDT May 7, 2022
Dr. Vandana Madhavan of the MassGeneral Hospital for Children also discusses the unexplained hepatitis outbreak among kids.
Dr. Vandana Madhavan of the MassGeneral Hospital for Children also discusses the unexplained hepatitis outbreak among kids.
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