Recently, dozens of British and American children have been affected by a rare inflammatory disease that doctors have linked to the coronavirus. In a few cases, serious complications occurred. Several children had to be resuscitated. In the United Kingdom, about 100 children showed similar symptoms. According to research data, similar reactions also occurred in continental Europe. Medical experts believe they are caused by a delayed immune response to the virus and resemble symptoms of another long-known disease – Kawasaki syndrome.
Kawasaki disease (also known as Kawasaki syndrome) is a rare disease named after a Japanese doctor who first described it in 1967. It is characterized primarily by inflammation of the blood vessels, as well as rash, swollen tonsils, and dry lips, and almost exclusively affects children under the age of five.
In April, doctors in Britain’s National Health Service were warned to be on the lookout for rare but dangerous painful symptoms in children after they were found in eight underage patients in London. A 14-year-old teenager subsequently died. All of them were treated at the London Children’s Hospital “Evelina” and all of them had the same symptoms: high temperature, rash, reddened eyes, swelling and body aches. Most of them did not have serious breathing problems, but doctors prescribed forced lung ventilation for seven people to improve heart function and blood circulation. Doctors call it a new phenomenon similar to Kawasaki disease. However, unlike the latter, it affects not only pre-school children, but also teenagers up to the age of 16, and in some cases it causes severe complications.
According to Dr. Liz Whittaker, a practicing physician and lecturer in pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Imperial College London, the fact that the syndrome manifested during the coronavirus pandemic likely indicates a link between the two phenomena. “We go through the peak of Covid-19, and after three or four weeks we observe the peak of a new disease. This leads us to believe that we are dealing with a post-infection syndrome, probably related to the accumulation of antibodies in the body,” he says.
Professor Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, notes that the majority of children with these symptoms respond well to treatment and are discharged home. The syndrome is currently extremely rare and should not prevent parents from releasing their children from quarantine, the scientist added. According to Professor Wiener, studying this syndrome will help explain why some children have a difficult time with Covid-19, while the majority do not become infected or experience symptoms. Children account for 1-2% of coronavirus cases in the UK, and fewer than 500 of them required hospitalization.