Expert warns virus could have a second dangerous phase in children

Worried doctors are concerned over a mystery condition in young children which results in high fevers, swollen arteries similar to toxic shock syndrome.

Doctors have compared the deadly illness to Kawasaki disease which also causes swelling in the arteries.

Doctors in the UK, Spain and Italy have raised serious concerns over the disease and they fear there is a possible link to coronavirus with clusters of severe inflammatory disease.

In the US three children have become infected with coronavirus are also being treated for the rare inflammatory disease, which is similar to what European doctors have seen, a specialist told Reuters.

The children are aged between 6 months and eight years old and all three have had treatment for inflammation of the stomach and the heart.

Dr Mark Gorelik, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York told Reuters, “Right now, we’re at the very beginning of trying to understand what that represents.”

Gorelik, who is a pediatric rheumatologist and immunologist, was called in to find out if the children have Kawasaki disease, one of which is critically ill in intensive care.

The disease causes an overreaction with the immune system which attacks the body’s own organs, which has bee noted with similar symptoms to some infected adults with coronavirus.

Britain’s Pediatric Intensive Care Society issued an alert to hospital’s and GPs noting that, in the past three weeks they have seen an increase with children with the disease.

There is “growing concern” that coronavirus related syndrome in children or there is a different unknown disease.

Doctors in Italy have seen a high number of cases in under nine-year-old children, and British and Italian experts are probing the possible link between the two.

Dr. Roshni Mathew, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital said, “When the baby came back positive, it was a bit of a surprise.”

The Dr added, “We’ll need more information published in the peer-reviewed literature to better understand this association. However, Kawasaki disease is a relatively rare condition, so seeing these cases makes us concerned that Kawasaki disease could be a rare complication of COVID-19.

“We need to remain vigilant when we see children with findings that aren’t typical for COVID-19.”