17-year-old with health issues is youngest to die from COVID-19 in Georgia, officials say
The coronavirus has claimed the life of a 17-year-old Georgia boy, marking the state’s first pediatric death and youngest-known fatality linked to the virus, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported Sunday.
DPH spokeswoman Nancy Nydam confirmed the death to Atlanta station WSB-TV.
The Fulton County teen wasn’t named but is listed on the health department’s website as having an underlying “chronic condition.”
No other information about the victim has been released.
As of Tuesday, there were more than 43,700 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Georgia and 1,871 deaths, according to the latest DPH data. Fulton is among five metro-Atlanta counties hardest hit by the virus, reporting over 4,100 cases.
DeKalb, Gwinnett and Cobb counties have also seen higher numbers of coronavirus cases, data show.
Before Sunday, the youngest-known COVID-19 death in the state was that of a 22-year-old woman in Muscogee County, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The highly contagious virus is typically less severe in children than adults, health experts say. However, a rare inflammatory syndrome seen in a growing number of children nationwide has sparked concern.
Nine kids in Georgia have come down with the mysterious illness, formally known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), McClatchy News reported. The rare condition can cause heart damage and mimics symptoms of Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory on the syndrome, which is thought to be linked to COVID-19.
A representative for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta told WSB-TV that it’s monitoring “several cases in metro Atlanta” of children who are exhibiting symptoms. Last week, state officials said there were as many as 15 possible cases of MIS-C in Georgia.
“Due to the rarity of this illness and the very small number of cases at this time, DPH cannot release additional information or specific case information,” Nydam said last week, according to McClatchy News. “DPH will report to the CDC, but they are still working with states on the details of that reporting process.”
Symptoms of MIS-C include high fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, rash, cardiac inflammation and more, according to the CDC.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 4:49 PM.