‘Coronavirus’ rash left my happy and healthy little boy in agony with a sky-high fever

JUST two weeks after the start of lockdown, Gemma Brown’s son Bertie woke with a rash on his tummy and chest.

The usually happy two-year-old was grumbling and crying, so Gemma phoned her GP and was told it was likely to be viral and to give him Calpol.

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But dental nurse Gemma, 38, knew something else was wrong.

She says: “His temperature was 42C, even with Calpol.

“By the next morning he was covered entirely in the rash and it had started to go black, like bruising. I called the doctor and told them I was taking him straight to the hospital.”

After a series of tests on Bertie for sepsis and meningitis, Gemma asked if her son’s illness was linked to Covid-19.

She says: “I was told that was impossible. But I had a hunch.”

Children have been relatively unscathed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 41,000 Brits to date.

Few youngsters appear to have suffered symptoms and the country’s leading kids’ doctor, Prof Russell Viner, says the number of paediatric deaths can be “counted on the fingers of two hands”.

But in the weeks after Covid-19 cases peaked, doctors began to notice a worrying spike in children who were seriously unwell.

Like Bertie, they appeared to be suffering sky-high fevers and unexplained rashes.

GPs in North London issued a warning of a new and mysterious inflammatory syndrome — similar to Kawasaki disease or toxic shock syndrome.

The life-threatening illness has been named paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PMIS).

Some believe it is linked to Covid-19, but this link has not yet been proved.

'STARTED TO GET WORSE'

It is thought up to 100 British kids between the ages of five and 16 have developed PMIS, while one 14-year-old boy is thought to have died from it.

And with a phased reopening of schools having begun, some parents — including Gemma — are concerned.

But Prof Viner is clear: Cases of the new condition are very rare.

Though Bertie has still not been formally diagnosed, Gemma, from Droitwich Spa, Worcs, is convinced her son had PMIS.

It’s a serious condition that could have killed him

Gemma Brown

She says: “We’d been in the hospital for a few hours when a senior consultant diagnosed Kawasaki disease. I thought it was a motorbike. I’d never even heard of it.

“I was told it was an inflammatory disorder autoimmune response that results in fever, swelling and rashes where blood vessels become inflamed.

“They said Bertie would need immunoglobulin through an intravenous drip. But within minutes of receiving the treatment, he started to get worse.

“He was freaking out and thrashing around. His heart rate and blood pressure went through the roof.”

The treatment was withdrawn and doctors decided to restart it 12 hours later at a much lower dosage.

Gemma says: “I was so scared but the second time around, Bertie didn’t have a reaction.

“Over the next 24 hours we started to see a difference in him but we were told Kawasaki could cause organ failure, so it was really touch and go. At one point I was terrified I was going to lose him.”

Over the next five days, as Bertie got better, Gemma asked again about Covid-19 but was told it was not related.

It was not until a few weeks after Bertie was allowed home that Gemma started to see reports of Kawasaki-like symptoms caused by Covid-19.

She said: “I even called the hospital three weeks ago to see if they wanted to give him an antibody test.

“I was told there was no need, that there’s no link between Kawasaki and Covid-19 but I’m adamant that’s what he had.”

Scientists now believe PMIS develops two to three weeks after Covid-19 infection, which can be asymptomatic.

So while children can test negative for the bug at the time, almost all diagnosed with PMIS have antibodies to the virus, studies have shown.

Within days of getting home, Gemma and her mum Angela, 63, who had been at the hospital with Bertie, both developed Covid-type symptoms.

Gemma insists she will not be sending Bertie to nursery or her older son George, 14, to school.

She says: “There’s simply not enough known about the link between Covid-19 and this new Kawasaki-like disease. Bertie has to have an annual heart scan until he’s a teenager.

'NOT A RISK I'D TAKE'

“He’s developed anaemia because of it and could be left with other lasting effects as the years go by.

“It’s simply not a risk I’d take. It’s a serious condition that could have killed him.”

Gemma is not alone in her fears. When doctors told Cherrelle Hooper, 31, her son Kayden, who is in Year One, had hand, foot and mouth disease, she knew something wasn’t right.

Cherrelle, from Hampshire, says: “Kayden is usually such a live­wire. He’s got bags of energy but when I picked him up from school one day, he had dark red blotches on his mouth and was complaining of itchy legs.”

A pharmacist suggested it could be meningitis.

But Cherrelle says she knew it wasn’t that and took him to the GP the next morning.

Cherrelle adds: “She told me it was likely to be hand, foot and mouth — even though she agreed the colours of the spots in his mouth weren’t right.

“I was also told he was the third child who had presented with symptoms like this that week — symptoms they’d never seen before.”

Kayden was told he could return to school. But Cherrelle says: “The rash in his mouth persisted and his feet got redder and cracked.

"The skin started to peel off but I didn’t link it to Kawasaki disease and Covid-19 until April when I started seeing things online.”

Both Cherrelle and Kayden’s little sister Grace, three, later came down with Covid-like symptoms themselves.

Cherrelle says: “I’m not sure I’d send him back to school, to be ­honest, as he’s still not over it completely.

“Knowing now what he’s been through, I’m hugely relieved he’s through the other side.

“It’s a terrifying disease we still know so little about.”

Q&A

What is paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PMIS)?

PMIS is a new systemic inflammatory response to coronavirus that doctors believe can develop up to three weeks after Covid-19. The rare condition is similar to Kawasaki disease, toxic shock syndrome and sepsis.

What are the symptoms?

In children and teenagers, a persistent fever, over 38.5C, which has gone on for more than three days.

Most children will also suffer respiratory problems and low blood pressure.

Other possible signs include rashes, conjunctivitis, swollen hands and feet, stomach ache, diarrhoea, vomiting, enlarged lymph nodes, fainting and confusion.

What are the risks?

PMIS appears to be relatively rare, experts believe. There have been between 75 and 100 cases in the UK. There have been five deaths worldwide, including a 14-year-old boy from London.

Most children affected are between the age of five and 16. None had any underlying conditions.

Is it linked to coronavirus?

Experts are carrying out research to try to understand more but they are confident PMIS could be related to Covid-19.

Dr Liz Whittaker, a paediatrician who has treated some of the cases in London, said that most of the children had tested negative for Covid-19 at the time they arrived at hospital.

But all of them had positive antibodies to the virus, which suggests they were infected at some point in the previous few weeks.

She added: “The new condition, PIMS, is extremely rare but it can make a child very ill, so it’s important to characterise the disease properly so we can provide close monitoring and the best treatment.

“For any parents worried about their children, I would urge them to follow their usual instincts – whatever would normally prompt you to visit your GP or A&E with your child still applies here.”

How is PMIS treated?

As with all new illnesses, there is little information available on treatment.
Children have been treated with anti-inflammatory treatment, including parenteral immunoglobulin and steroids, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In guidance published by the UK’s Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), all affected children should be treated as having suspected Covid-19.

What are the long-term effects?

As it is a new illness, very little is known about PMIS in the long-term.

Dr Whittaker says most children are very unwell for four to five days before getting better, but there is a small group who need intensive care and urgent treatment.

She said: “A very small group of these children develop something called shock, where the heart is affected.”

They may end up needing life support. Treatment strategies are being considered to prevent long-term complications such as coronary artery aneurysms.

• Find out more about Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome at the

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