04/28/2020
Experts In UK, Italy Warn Of Possible Connection Between COVID-19 And Inflammatory Disease In Children
Reuters (4/27) reports, “Italian and British medical experts are investigating a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and clusters of severe inflammatory disease among infants who are arriving in hospital with high fevers and swollen arteries.” In northern Italy, physicians “have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children under age 9 with severe cases of what appears to be Kawasaki disease, more common in parts of Asia,” and physicians “have made similar observations” in Britain. According to Reuters, “The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has yet to see something similar in the United States, which has the greatest number of coronavirus infections and deaths.” Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, chair of the academy’s committee on infectious disease, said in an email, “We are not aware of any reports of this phenomenon in the United States.” Dr. Sean O’Leary, also part of the AAP committee, “said his hospital has seen several cases of Kawasaki this year, but none in the more than 30 children admitted for COVID-19.” He added, “Even if it is related, is a very rare complication. ...If it were more common, we’d already have a pretty good idea about it in the United States.”
CNN (4/27) reports, “A small but rising number of children are becoming ill with a rare syndrome that could be linked to coronavirus, with reported cases showing symptoms of abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptoms and cardiac inflammation, UK health care bosses and pediatrics specialists have warned.” The Paediatric Intensive Care Society UK (PICS) on Sunday “tweeted an ‘urgent alert’ from the National Health Service England about a small rise in the number of cases of critically ill children presenting ‘overlapping features of toxic shock syndrome and atypical Kawasaki disease with blood parameters’ – with some of the children testing positive for [COVID-19].”
Newsweek (4/27) reports the alert also said, “There is a growing concern that a [COVID-19] related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK, or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infectious pathogen associated with these cases.” According to Newsweek, “these alerts are a standard way of making sure clinicians are aware of any potential emerging conditions so children can be given the right care quickly.”