Rare inflammatory condition affects some children with COVID-19
Published:Thursday | May 7, 2020 | 5:10 PM
Dozens of United States children have been hospitalised with a serious inflammatory condition possibly linked with the coronavirus and first seen in Europe.
New York authorities announced Wednesday that 64 potential cases had been reported to the state.
The advisory followed an alert earlier this week about 15 cases in New York City.
A few other US children have been affected during the pandemic, including a 6-month-old infant in California diagnosed with COVID-19 and Kawasaki disease, a rare condition that causes swelling in blood vessels.
Fever, abdominal pain and skin rashes are common symptoms, while some New York children have developed heart inflammation requiring intensive care.
Most had evidence of current or past coronavirus infections.
Medical groups in Britain, Italy and Spain warned doctors last month to look out for the condition.
Some doctors say the New York cases increase the likelihood that the syndrome is a rare complication of COVID-19 although that remains to be proven.
“It raises our antenna a bit and tells is we need to be vigilant about unusual and more severe complications of COVID-19” in children, said Dr Larry Kociolek, an infectious disease specialist at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
In a news release Wednesday, the American Heart Association emphasised that the condition is rare.
“We want to reassure parents — this appears to be uncommon. While Kawasaki disease can damage the heart or blood vessels, the heart problems usually go away in five or six weeks, and most children fully recover,” said Dr Jane Newburger, an association member and director of the Kawasaki Program at Boston Children’s Hospital.
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