The COVID-19 complication seen in children is “rare,” says WHO

GENEVA (Reuters) – The “vast majority” of children with COVID-19 have mild cases and make a full recovery, but a small number in some countries have developed a rare inflammatory syndrome, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday ( WHO).

British and Italian medical experts are investigating a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and clusters of severe inflammatory diseases in newborns arriving at the hospital with high fever and inflamed arteries.

Three American children infected with the virus are being treated for a rare inflammatory syndrome that seems similar to one that has raised concern in Britain, Italy and Spain, a treating specialist told Reuters.

“I want to emphasize, for all parents, the vast majority of children who get COVID will have mild symptoms and make a full recovery,” Mike Ryan, the WHO’s chief emergency expert, said Wednesday in a virtual news conference.

Ryan declined to comment on reports that Gidesad Science’s antiviral drug remdesivir could help treat COVID-19, saying more data was needed from clinical trials that were already underway.

“But we are hopeful that this drug and others may be helpful in treating COVID-19,” he said.

More than 3.11 million people are reported to be infected with the new coronavirus worldwide, and more than 216,000 have died, according to a Reuters count on Wednesday.

CLINICS ON ALERT

So far, children have largely escaped some of the more serious complications of COVID-19, which has affected older adults and those with chronic conditions the most.

The WHO clinical network has discussed Britain’s report on a small number of children with an inflammatory response, said WHO epidemiologist Dr. Maria van Kerkhove.

“There are some recent rare descriptions of children in some European countries who have had this inflammatory syndrome, which is similar to Kawasaki syndrome, but appears to be very rare,” he said.

“We have asked the global network of doctors to be vigilant about this so that they systematically capture information so that we can better understand and guide treatment.”

Asked about Sweden’s strategy to avoid blockades and allow most schools and businesses to remain open, Ryan said: “If we want to achieve a ‘new normal’, Sweden in many ways represents a future model.”

“What he has done differently is that he has really trusted his own communities to implement that physical detachment,” he said, adding that Sweden had implemented a “very robust public health policy.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has defended the agency’s record in managing the pandemic since the new virus emerged late last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The Geneva-based UN body has come under fire in recent weeks, especially for its top donor, the United States, which has cut funds.

Tedros presented a timeline of what the agency knew when, before declaring COVID-19, a global emergency on January 30.

“From the beginning, WHO has acted quickly and decisively to respond to warn the world,” he said. “We rang the alarm early, and we rang it often.”