Coronavirus IS causing life-threatening new inflammatory condition in some children, study finds
CORONAVIRUS is causing a life-threatening new inflammatory condition in some children, scientists have claimed.
A report published in The Lancet focused on an "unprecedented cluster of eight children" who were admitted to hospital last month after displaying symptoms of toxic-shock syndrome.
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It comes after a number of children in the UK and abroad had been admitted to hospital with a "Kawasaki-like" condition. The condition is proving fatal for some children after it was revealed that patients in the US were admitted to critical care beds last week.
The American Heart Association issued a statement claiming that children were becoming "extremely ill" from the condition.
The study stated that "four [of the] children had known family exposure to coronavirus" while all eight tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies.
Despite a clear link to Covid-19 and the condition that has seen many children suffer dramatic symptoms such as inflammation and sore tongues, one specialist has said it could be too early to say whether or not the two are linked.
Last week various cases of the condition emerged, included one of six-month-old girl in California who was taken to hospital after refusing to eat and displaying a fever.
She didn't have a cough or congestion and doctors diagnosed her with a viral infection.
The following day, the infant broke out in a red, blotchy rash which persisted for another two days before her worried parents brought her back to see medics.
She tested positive for Covid-19 after presenting at a hospital and spending time of a children's ward.
Jon Cohen, emeritus professor of infectious diseases at Brighton & Sussex Medical School, said it was still far too early to jump to conclusions regarding the link between the syndrome and Covid-19.
"During the week that the report was being peer reviewed, the same team saw another 12 patients. All the patients tested negative for (Covid-19) but 10 of the 20 were positive for antibody, suggesting that they had been exposed at some time," Prof Cohen said.
"Naturally (this) raises the suspicion of a 'new' clinical syndrome in children associated with coronavirus.
"This suspicion is underlined by the fact that six of the eight were of Afro-Caribbean descent, five were boys, and seven of the eight were clinically obese.
SIGNS TO WATCH OUT FOR
NHS doctors have been told to watch out for signs of an 'inflammatory syndrome' in kids, after a rise in cases of the new condition.
Health chiefs said in an alert to GPs the signs include:
- stomach pain
- gastrointestinal symptoms - like vomiting and diarrhoea
The mysterious condition has been compared to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease.
The signs of TSS are:
- high temperature
- flu-like symptoms, like headache, feeling cold, aches, sore throat and cough
- feeling and being sick
- diarrhoea
- widespread burn-like rash
- lips, tongue, and whites of the eyes turning bright red
- dizziness or fainting
- difficulty breathing
- confusion
Signs of Kawaski disease include:
- a rash
- swollen glands in the neck
- dry, cracked lips
- red fingers or toes
- red eyes
These three characteristics align with several putative risk factors for coronavirus infection.
"Nevertheless, some caution is needed in jumping to the conclusion that this is 'paediatric Covid'.
He said it was key to stress that there is a wide variety of factors that could cause toxic-shock syndrome.
"The clinical syndrome described, that of atypical Kawasaki shock syndrome, or toxic-shock syndrome, can be precipitated by various stimuli and it is conceivable that this cluster was caused not by Covid but as a result of some other infective or non infective stimulus," he said.
"Nevertheless, the media reports that followed the initial description of these cases resulted in similar clusters being described in several other specialist centres, lending credence to the fact that this is indeed a new, but thankfully rare, concerning clinical syndrome."
Last week, the World Health Organisation asked its global network of clinicians to be on alert for the rare phenomenon which causes a toxic shock-style inflammatory reaction.
The alert came after UK medics noticed the syndrome emerging in some hospitalised children who had also been infected with Covid-19.
Parents of children up and down the country were left in a panic as they grappled with their children's unusual symptoms.
It was reported that up to a dozen children in the UK had ended up in intensive care fighting for their lives after developing the bizarre syndrome.
NHS bosses were so concerned that they sent an urgent alert to doctors warning of a rise in cases in recent weeks.
And the Health Secretary also said "we have lost some children" to a disease "we think is caused by the coronavirus".
Last week French minister Olivier Veran said the country had more than a dozen children who were displaying symptoms such as inflammation around the heart.
There is so far insufficient evidence to suggest a link with the condition and the coronavirus, but ministers across the world have become concerned about the growing number of cases and Mr Veran said it was being taken "very seriously".
Speaking to Franceinfo news he said Paris has reported around “15 children of all ages”, to have displayed symptoms.
He also claimed that other cases had been reported in other European countries such as Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
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