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Doctors are investigating the possible link of a life-threatening inflammatory syndrome characterized by high fever and inflamed blood vessels and intestines in young children that appears to be related to coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Until now, Covid-19 was believed to have largely saved young children, and most hospitalizations and deaths were reported in older adults and people with chronic conditions. But during the few weeks, about 100 cases of young children admitted to intensive care units with toxic shock and symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease in the US. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, which has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to begin investigating the possibility of its link with coronavirus disease.
Kawasaki syndrome is a disease of unknown cause that affects the blood vessels, the heart, and other organs. Symptoms include high fever, low blood pressure, rash, and shortness of breath, and it generally affects children under the age of five, although a third of cases in India are in older children. After rheumatic fever, it is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children.
“We are aware of this newly described syndrome in several countries in Europe and potentially in a small number of cases in North America,” said Dr. Adam Finn, president of the WHO European Technical Advisory Group, at a press conference. “We are urgently carrying out a surveillance study in the UK to establish what is happening,” he added.
The incidence rate of Kawasaki syndrome is 150 per 100,000 children under the age of 5, but remains undiagnosed in India, according to a study published in Global Cardiology Science and Practice. Boys are at a slightly higher risk, with a male to female ratio of around 1.5: 1 in India.
Many of the children receiving treatment for the new syndrome in Europe and the United States have tested positive for coronavirus, but some have not. That could mean that the syndrome is not related to the coronavirus, that the virus had been removed by the children before the test, or that the infection was not detected by the test. There have been no reported cases of Kawasaki syndrome related to coronavirus from India,
Experts say what Covid-19 and Kawasaki syndrome have in common is the acute immune response, or cytokine storm, that they trigger, causing the body to go into shock.
“These children have had a severe and prolonged inflammatory response to Covid-19 infection and have not had severe lung disease, unlike most adult cases,” Dr. Nazima Pathan, consultant, told The Guardian in pediatric intensive care in Cambridge. .
While this is an evolving situation, it is clear that these symptoms are reported in only a few cases. The important message is that if parents are concerned about their children’s health, they should seek medical advice, “said Dr. Pathan.
While children are not invulnerable to Covid-19 infection, most children develop mild illness. Initial data from China showed that children were largely saved, but cases detected through contact tracking showed that 13% of confirmed cases had no symptoms, and when confirmed and suspected cases were combined, almost a a third of children aged 6 to 10 years were asymptomatic. Considering confirmed and suspected cases, 32% of children ages 6 to 10 were asymptomatic, according to data from the China Centers for Disease Control.
“Children may not even develop severe symptoms, but they are potential carriers of the virus and can transmit it to others, so it is important to minimize their contact with people at risk, such as grandparents and people with existing illnesses like severe asthma, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, among others, “said Dr. Yatin Mehta, head of critical care, Medanta-The Medicity, Gurugram, which was the first private hospital to begin treating Covid-19 patients in India.
A new study from Germany found that children are as infectious as adults. Researchers at Charite, one of Europe’s largest university hospitals in Berlin, found that the virus in the respiratory tract, which is the main route of transmission of the virus, is not significantly different between age groups.
Children represent less than 1% (0.6%) of people hospitalized with serious illnesses. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Babies appear to be more likely to be hospitalized in the US, but death remains extremely rare.
Signs of trouble in young children
Looking pale
Abnormally cold to the touch
Slow or irregular breathing (apnea), grunting.
Difficulty breathing
Blue lips
Fit / seizures
Crying inconsolably
Lethargy, lack of response
Rash that does not go away with pressure (glass test)
