Nearly 100 kids in six countries fall ill with new ‘inflammatory syndrome linked to Covid’
AROUND 100 children across the world are thought to have been struck by a new but lethal condition "linked to coronavirus", doctors fear.
Cases of the unusual “Kawasaki disease-like illness” that cause symptoms including fever, digestion issues and heart inflammation have been reported in Britain, Italy, France, the US, Spain and Switzerland.
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A number of children in the UK have been admitted to intensive care units with the mysterious condition, which appears similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome.
The NHS was forced to issue an alert to paediatricians earlier this week regarding the number of children being admitted.
In the UK 19 children have been affected but none have died from the condition, with around 12 needing intensive care.
So far in the UK there have been over 26,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus, of the children who have died from the disease, most had been found to have been suffering from underlying health conditions.
On Wednesday evening, French minister Olivier Veran said the country had more than a dozen children who were displaying symptoms such as inflammation around the heart.
There is so far insufficient evidence to suggest a link with the condition and the coronavirus, but ministers across the world have become concerned about the growing number of cases and Mr Veran said it was being taken "very seriously".
Speaking to Franceinfo news he said Paris has reported around “15 children of all ages”, to have displayed symptoms.
He also claimed that other cases had been reported in other European countries such as Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
The signs to watch out for
In an alert to health practitioners in the UK, NHS doctors have been told to watch out for signs of an "inflammatory syndrome" in children, after a rise in cases of the new condition.
The signs include:
- gastrointestinal symptoms - like vomiting and diarrhoea
- stomach pains
The conditions of the Kawasaki-like condition to watch out for are:
- confusion
- difficulty breathing
- high temperature
- feeling or being sick
- a burn like rash across the body
- dizziness or fainting
- lips, tongue, and whites of the eyes turning bright red
- flu like symptoms
- diarrhoea
If you have contracted the Kawasaki illness you could display the following symptoms:
- red fingers toes or eyes
- cracked or dry lips
- swollen glands
European countries have been ravaged by the coronavirus and are now being faced with further challenges as more cases of the Kawasaki disease-like condition come to light.
Both France and Spain have had over 24,000 deaths from the coronavirus, while Italy has suffered over 27,000.
Switzerland is however on the lower end of the scale, and has had over 1,400 deaths.
Grave concern
On Tuesday health secretary Matt Hancock expressed his concerns surrounding the condition, after multiple parents reported that their children had been hospitalised.
He said it was something the government "was worried about", while chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty added that it was "entirely plausible" that there was a link between the coronavirus and the condition.
Yesterday it was reported that three children in the US had also fallen ill with the condition.
The children range in age from six months to eight years old and have all undergone treatment in New York after they showed symptoms of fever and inflammation of the heart and gut.
Of the three children, one is in intensive care, one has been discharged and the other is critically ill.
At Columbia University Medical Center in New York, Dr Mark Gorelik told Reuters that medics are still "at the very beginning of trying to understand what this represents".
The paediatric rheumatologist and immunologist said he had been called in to evaluate whether or not the children had Kawasaki disease.
Dr Gorelik said he believes the cases in New York are not the Kawasaki disease, but said the new illness shares an underlying mechanism similar to that of Kawasaki, which is set off by an infectious agent that sparks an immune response.
Until now children have managed to escape Covid-19, with few contracting the disease, but this new condition has sparked concerns across the medical community and for the parents of young children.
The cases in New York come after it was also reported that a six-month-old had been admitted to a hospital in California with Kawasaki disease. Dr Roshni Mathew, who wrote up the case in the journal Hospital Pediatrics said it was a "surprise" when the baby tested positive.
He said the cause of the Kawasaki disease was not known but there are suggestions that it could be a possible trigger for other illnesses such as the coronavirus.
Dr Gorelik said that it is possible that children’s immune systems could respond to the virus in a "very disorganised way", meaning that the secondary immune response kicks in after the infection.
He added that the pattern is similar to that being seen with some adults who have contracted the coronavirus. Some have begun to recover and then have had a secondary immune response to the condition.