Doctors in the UK were warned to look out for a rare but dangerous reaction in children linked to the CCP virus.
“The cases have in common overlapping feature of toxic shock syndrome and atypical Kawasaki disease with blood parameters consistent with severe COVID-19 in children,” the alert continued.
Elaborating further, officials said that the virus has produced an “inflammatory syndrome” for UK children. Or, officials added, “there may be another, as yet unidentified, infectious pathogen associated with these cases.”
“Abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms have been a common feature, as has cardiac inflammation. This has been observed in children with confirmed PCR positive Sars-CoV-2 infection as well as children who are PCR negative,” The NHS letter explained. “Serological evidence of possible preceding Sars-CoV-2 infection have also been observed.”
Dr. Nazima Pathan, a consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care in Cambridge, told the broadcaster that health officials in Spain and Italy have reported similar cases among children.
“Some of the children have presented with a septic shock type illness and rashes - the kind of presentation we would expect to see in toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease (which affects blood vessels and the heart),” the news outlet quoted Pathan as saying. “Overall, children seem to be more resilient to serious lung infection following exposure to coronavirus, and the numbers admitted to intensive care units are relatively low.”
The findings come as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been recovering from a case of COVID-19, has faced mounting pressure to reopen the country’s schools amid a lockdown.