LONG-TERM IMPACT

Idaho Teen Who Contracted COVID-19 Now Needs Heart Transplant

The teenager had to be transported to another hospital to await a heart transplant after experiencing complications associated with COVID-19.

An Idaho teen who contracted the coronavirus will now need a heart transplant after experiencing complications, Dr. Kenny Bramwell, the director of St. Luke’s Children's Medical in Idaho, said Tuesday. The teenager was “previously healthy” until he was diagnosed with COVID-19, Bramwell said. He was airlifted to an out-of-state hospital Tuesday to await a heart transplant. “While COVID is commonly inconsequential for many people, there are a subset of people who become exceptionally sick,” Bramwell said, noting that dozens of children in the state have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19. Some of those children, he said, also developed the rare condition MIS-C, or Multiple Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, after testing positive for the coronavirus.