Caring as Community

There is nothing that evokes such an emotional response as the illness and near death of a patient or loved one, and certainly illness in our practices’ families and children are times when we reach deep to understand and help our practice families cope.

Children are a special case, as their lives have just begun, and they have so much future potential. The new and emergent viruses require us to keep up with the current recommendations for surveillance and treatment. Now with COVID-19, there is uncertainty of the long-term effects of the viruses. Unrecognized, untreated or even treated patients are at risk for long-term effects of most diseases that can be deadly if missed. This is our encouragement to keep abreast of the recommendations.

Although there has never been a time where we can relax and not worry about patients, the new, emergent and challenging infections are upon us as we learn how to recognize and treat unexpected complications, as it is with the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children you will read about in this edition.

As family physicians we don’t need reminding that when a child is ill, the entire community is involved. The parents, siblings and healthcare system, as well as the child’s school, teachers and classmates, are upfront in the concern and caring of the patient, who may need additional services such as physical therapy and training, at which point other healthcare discipline support will be enlisted.

Even if for a single event in care, the mental and physical stress involved in being a parent or sibling bystander is evident. These effects can last for years into the future. The parents who helplessly stand by the bedside and the brothers and sisters who whisper in the hall will remember and have emotionally driven expectations of the

healthcare system and physician. Educators who are wondering how to catch up the child as they return to class speculate if they missed sending the child home or if, in some way, they could have helped the child. And as physicians, we question ourselves and relearn as much as possible to recognize and treat illness.

Caring is a community event, and nowhere is there more concern than when it’s a child.

Along with other important educational topics in this issue, a must-read article addresses how to avoid MIS-C misdiagnosis, as currently, there is not a clearly defined process that can predict which children will be at risk. We must be ever vigilant when a child presents with symptoms post-COVID-19 infection, especially because COVID-19 can be mild or unrecognized, so knowing when to investigate or hospitalize gains more importance.

Please take a moment to refresh your knowledge as you read this information.