Kawasaki disease: Fears kids will die from disease linked to coronavirus

The first images of a “new disease” in children possibly linked to COVID-19 have been released and it’s already killed multiple kids in the UK.

Health authorities across Europe are on high alert for a potential “new disease” affecting children that experts believe could be linked to COVID-19.

On Tuesday Britain’s Health Minister Matt Hancock said some children in the UK have died from a severe inflammatory syndrome experts believe could be linked to the coronavirus.

Now researchers in the United States have released photos and details of what they believe could be the first case of the mysterious case, which presents with symptoms similar to the rare Kawasaki disease – a condition that attacks blood vessels and the heart.

The six-month-old, believed to be from California, was taken to hospital after developing a fever and refusing to eat.

The six-month-old baby girl's legs were covered in a red, bumpy rash – believed to be Kawasaki disease

She didn't have a cough or congestion and doctors diagnosed her with a viral infection.

The following day, the infant broke out in a red, blotchy rash which persisted for another two days before her worried parents brought her back to see medics.

She had also developed conjunctivitis and dry cracked lips, while her temperature was still high at 38C and she was starting to suffer from mild congestion.

Doctors also carried out a chest x-ray which showed a faint opacity in the middle of her left lung.

They noted that throughout her illness, she hadn't come into contact with anyone who had been knowingly sick.

Doctors noted that the infant had conjunctivitis as well as a fever

Her nine-year-old sibling had upper respiratory symptoms three weeks prior to the infant falling ill.

The family had also been self-isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic and hadn't left the house for school or work for a week before she developed a fever.

But based on her symptoms, they sent her to the emergency department to be tested for COVID-19.

Doctors suspected she could be suffering from Kawasaki disease and she was admitted to the children's ward.

By this point, she was on day five of her illness and doctors noted prominent lumps covering her tongue as well as a mottled red rash on her legs and hands – which had left them swollen.

She was treated with high-dose aspirin and intravenous immunoglobulin, also called IVIG, which is a solution of antibodies taken from healthy donors.

The youngster's hands were swollen and covered in a red, blotchy rash

An echocardiogram – a scan used to look at the heart and nearby blood vessels – came back normal without any evidence of coronary dilation or aneurysm.

The evening before she was discharged, her COVID-19 test came back positive from the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory.

Doctors said the Public Health Department was notified, and the family was instructed to quarantine at home for 14 days from the positive test date.

She was discharged 48 hours after completing IVIG treatment, on low dose of aspirin, with plans to follow-up for repeat echocardiographic evaluation two weeks after discharge – after the mandated 14-day quarantine.

The case was published online in the journal Hospital Pediatrics on April 7.

“To our knowledge, this is the first described case of KD [Kawasaki disease] with concurrent COVID-19 infection,” the authors wrote.

The report, they said, is intended to inform others caring for paediatric patients affected by COVID-19 as clinical presentation patterns evolve.

NUMBERS OF CHILDREN IN INTENSIVE CARE SPIKE

There has been an unusual spike in the number of children presenting with symptoms similar to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki in England over the past few weeks.

It prompted an urgent alert from Britain’s Paediatric Intensive Care Society on Monday, warning doctors there were “growing concerns” it could be linked to COVID-19

“Over the last three weeks, there has been an apparent rise in the number of children of all ages presenting with a multi-system inflammatory state requiring intensive care,” it said. “Abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms have been common features as has cardiac inflammation.”

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READ MORE: Doctors reveal rise in kids with severe coronavirus-related condition

Doctors have been warned to look out for symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhoea and fever. Picture: iStock

On Tuesday, Mr Hancock then confirmed a number of children with no underlying health conditions had died of the “new disease” and experts were “worried”.

“It’s a new disease that we think may be caused by coronavirus and the COVID-19 virus,” he told LBC Radio.

“We’re not 100 per cent sure because some of the people who got it hadn’t tested positive, so we’re doing a lot of research now, but it is something that we’re worried about.”

Mr Hancock did not say how many youngsters had died in the UK, but stressed the syndrome was “rare”.

“It is rare, although it is very significant for those children who do get it. The number of cases is small” he said.

Britain's Health Minister Matt Hancock says medical experts are “very worried”. Picture: AP/Frank Augstein

Doctors in Italy and Spain are also on high alert for the condition.

In northern Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit areas during the pandemic, medical staff have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children under the age of nine presenting with severe cases of what appeared to be Kawasaki disease.

Kawasaki symptoms include a high temperature that lasts for 5 days or more, a rash and swollen glands in the neck. Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) says the syndrome only affects about eight in every 100,000 children every year, with most aged under five.

Spain’s Association of Paediatrics has also warned of a spike in the number of school-age children suffering from “an unusual picture of abdominal pain, accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms” that could lead within hours to shock, low blood pressure and heart problems.

“It is a priority to recognise these (symptoms) to urgently refer these patients to a hospital,” the paediatric association said.

Some possible cases have also been reported in France and Belgium

Possible cases of the syndrome have been reported in the UK, Italy, Spain, France and Belgium. Picture: AP/Alvaro Barrientos

“New diseases may present in ways that surprise us and clinicians need to be made aware of any emerging evidence of particular symptoms,” said Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in London.

To date, children have been among the least affected group by the coronavirus. Data from more than 75,000 cases in China showed they comprised 2.4 per cent of all cases and mostly suffered only mild symptoms.

“If you are a parent, please be assured that serious illness as a result of COVID-19 still appears to be a very rare event in children,” Britain’s Paediatric Intensive Care Society said.

“If your child is unwell or has the symptoms of sepsis, then please seek medical attention in the usual way.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was attempting to gather more information on any new, coronavirus-related syndrome in children from its global network of doctors but had not received any official reports about it.

– With wires