 Pediatricians with UK health care are sounding the alarm that COVID-19 is increasingly affecting children. While the number of severe cases requiring oxygen support remains low, many of those cases have occurred in the past two weeks. That has the doctors worried that cases of severe COVID in children could continue to rise, as well as cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, or MISC, a serious condition which causes inflammation in various organs. The vast majority of children who do become infected with COVID will either be asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. However, there is no way to assure that your child is going to be the one who is asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, as opposed to one who winds up with severe COVID or potentially MISC. I might mention that over 400 children have died from COVID. And as Dr. McGuigan mentions, it doesn't matter if it's one in a thousand if it's your child. So, I mean, it's not no risk and I think parents need to be made aware of this. There's also long COVID's been described in which the kids have brain fog and inability to concentrate. So, while the rates are certainly lower in children, it's not. It's an important and serious condition for children. Here at Pikeville Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Institute, we have assembled a comprehensive team of cardiac specialists bringing expertise from all regions of the nation and the world. We have coupled that with cutting-edge technology, providing them the best equipment and operating rooms available. The result is comprehensive cardiac care for the people of our region that is second to none. The Heart and Vascular Institute at Pikeville Medical Center. What worries me a little bit is that we're seeing a very unusual, as you probably have heard, rise in other respiratory diseases this time of year. Specifically, RSV typically does not happen in spikes in the summer. It's typically a winter time virus, but we're seeing an abnormal spike in that. So, with that, we have had times in the summer where we have had to go on regional divert or basically try to find other beds to send children who try to get transferred in, too. That is extremely abnormal this time of year for us. So, what I'm concerned about is the potential influx that may come as we continue to see a surge or four to six weeks after when we may see more MIIC cases. And while things like immunosuppressing conditions, cancer do put you at some increased risk, really obesity is a huge driver of the increased risk for severe COVID. And that's important because obesity is incredibly common, not just nationwide, but also in our state. So for these kids who may be overweight or obese, it's even more important for them to be protected. As with other advice regarding COVID-19, the pediatricians advised that the best way to combat the disease is for everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated.