Children hospitalised in NYC due to mysterious illness linked with COVID-19
New York, May 5
In a worrisome development, 15 children in New York, some of whom had COVID-19, have recently been hospitalised with a mysterious inflammatory syndrome, with doctors not being fully aware of the spectrum of the disease yet.
The New York City Health Department said children aged between 2 and 15 years had been hospitalised from April 17 to May 1 with Kawasaki disease or features of toxic shock.
While the “full spectrum of disease is not yet known,” the department said patients with this syndrome, who had been admitted to paediatric intensive care units (PICUs), had required cardiac and/or respiratory support. “Only severe cases may have been recognised at this time,” it said.
The children had reported fever, rash, abdominal pain, vomiting, or diarrhoea.
Of the 15 children, four had tested positive for COVID-19. More than half of the reported patients required blood pressure support and five required mechanical ventilation. No fatalities had been reported among these cases, the department said.
A report in The New York Times said according to the state health commissioner Howard Zucker, officials were investigating the unexplained syndrome.
The syndrome has received growing attention in recent weeks as cases began appearing in European countries hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There are some recent rare descriptions of children in some European countries that have had this inflammatory syndrome, which is similar to the Kawasaki syndrome, but it seems to be very rare,” Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, World Health Organisation scientist, said during a news briefing last week.
New York City health commissioner Oxiris Barbot said in a statement “even though the relationship of this syndrome to COVID-19 is not yet defined, and not all of these cases have tested positive for COVID-19 by either DNA test or serology, the clinical nature of this virus is such that we are asking all providers to contact us immediately if they see patients who meet the criteria we’ve outlined.”
“And to parents,” she added, “if your child has symptoms such as fever, rash, abdominal pain or vomiting, call your doctor right away.” PTI
