Lessons of the month: A misunderstood teenager with paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome – temporarily associated with SARS-CoV-2 admitted under adult medicine

Abstract

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has proven to be a challenge to healthcare bodies globally. The virus has been associated with a spectrum of clinical features, from anosmia to gastrointestinal upset to multiorgan dysfunction in the most severe cases. Given the range of features observed, it is important to be aware that infectious diseases can present atypically. Furthermore, in many hospitals, including our own, teenagers aged 16 to 18 years old are admitted under the care of adult medical services. Clinicians should be aware of patients presenting with the novel condition of paediatric inflammatory multisystem disorder – temporarily associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS).