A specialist hospital in London are treating over 40 children for a new disease, “hyper inflammatory” after they had caught coronavirus.
A “cluster” of cases have been confirmed in Southwark and Woolwich, South East London, and one 14-year old boy died who had no underlying health conditions, according to the Standard.
The disease which is similar to Kawasaki disease can cause major problems with the heart, doctors at Evelina London children’s hospital said.
Doctors at the hospital wrote an article in the Lancet medical journal and described it as a “new phenomenon” which is linked to coronavirus.
Dr Sara Hanna, the Evelina’s medical director, told the Standard, “We probably saw the first case in the middle of March. We had a child admitted with something very like Kawasaki, a bit like something we call toxic shock syndrome.
“In the last two weeks, we have just seen this cluster of children where some of them look very like Kawasaki… they have a high persistent fever, they have got red eyes, they have got a rash, they have got swollen hands and feet.”
Dr Hanna said when checking the blood samples in children they are not detecting coronavirus, but indicators within the blood are “remarkable similar” to those found in adults with the virus.
The Dr said, it is “very suspicious” over the timing of the outbreak and the link to coronavirus.
“We can’t say for certain it’s related to the virus but it’s difficult to understand how it wouldn’t be.”
She added, “We look after a massive population of children, probably about two million.
“This is a very small number of children, and we do see conditions like this in children that get other infections.
“Overall children are very much less affected by this virus than older people. Detected early and treated, these children are doing extremely well.”
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