Rare Inflammatory Syndrome Seen in US Boy Linked to COVID-19

US doctors cited a rare inflammatory condition called Kawasaki disease as a potential complication of COVID-19 in a young child.

National Health Service England sent a caution to doctors, while on Sunday, the Paediatric Intensive Care Society wrote it to its members on Twitter.

New York City health officials were commanded to begin tracing a potential association between COVID-19 and toxic shock in children, following local hospitals detecting pediatric patients with serious inflammatory symptoms.

"We need to understand if this is actually a new phenomenon," according to Dr. Sean O'Leary, an infectious disease specialist with the American Association of Pediatrics in an interview on Wednesday.

Almost 100 confirmed cases of the atypical illness have been diagnosed in at least 6 countries, with doctors in the UK, the US, Italy, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Spain now reportedly investigating this condition.

The first cases emerged this week upon NHS issuing the aforementioned alert to pediatricians about the number of children admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) having both toxic shock and the Kawasaki disease.

The latter is an inflammatory disorder that affects the heart, blood vessel, and other organs.

While there was insufficient evidence to support the link with the novel coronavirus, French health minister Olivier Veran said the cases were being taken "very seriously."

Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC in less than 24 hours has admitted many children that tested positive for the coronavirus who are suffering from a constellation of symptoms that resemble the rare disease.

A representative from Children's National Hospital confirmed that the children exhibited "Kawasaki-like characteristics."

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A team at Stanford Children's Hospital also remarked that they had witnessed a case, describing a 6-month-old girl confined in the hospital with Kawasaki disease and later tested positive for the coronavirus.

The rare illness causes inflammation in the arteries' walls and can constrict blood flow to the heart.

One doctor described the Kawasaki disease as infected patients feeling as if "every blood vessel in the body is on fire."

According to Veran, "All of the pediatricians and critical care medics are working together to see whether it's connected to COVID-19."

Doctors said that overall, children are not at high risk from the coronavirus, but reports of the inflammatory syndrome across Europe and the US underscore the need for vigilance from parents.

A health specialist who treated 3 children at Columbia University Medical Center in New York said their patients, ranging between 6 months old and 8 years old, endured fever and inflammation of the heart and gut.

"Right now, we're at the very beginning of trying to understand what that represents," according to a pediatric rheumatologist and immunologist, Columbia's Mark Gorelik.

The inflammatory condition's symptoms include stomach pain, high fever, and skin rashes. It comes with lasting heart problems if left untreated. However, the disease is often treatable and most children can recover without serious problems, but it can be life-threatening.

No one currently knows the root of the Kawasaki disease, but some studies have alluded to a connection between viruses or bacterial infection.