When Vogue began covering COIVD-19, Dharushana Muthulingam, MD, MS, instructor in medicine, infectious diseases, was their go to expert. Dr. Muthulingam has responded to questions on social distancing, and what to do with your clothes after returning home from running errands.
More recently she has responded to the mysterious, potentially coronavirus-related illness affecting children. In the early days of the pandemic, it appeared that children weren’t as affected by COVID-19 as adults were, but that has changed. Children’s hospitals in New York and around the country have seen an uptick in cases of children presenting with pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a rare but serious illness believed to be associated with the coronavirus.
Dharushana Muthulingam, MD, infectious diseases physician and instructor at the School of Medicine, told Vogue that while this syndrome is frightening, the best course of action for parents is to concentrate on facts, not fear. Muthulingam said the syndrome looks like illnesses physicians know about and is responsive to intensive care. “The best way for people to feel like they have control over the situation is to keep preventing COVID-19 the best they can, and if a child is sick, take them to their pediatrician and seek out care.”