Kids play football on a street of Valley Parade, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Bradford, Britain April 24, 2020.
Dubai - A number of youngsters have also been diagnosed with the condition - which can cause symptoms similar to toxic shock syndrome - elsewhere in Europe.
Published: Thu 14 May 2020, 5:51 AM
Last updated: Thu 14 May 2020, 11:11 AM
Multiple children in the UK and the US have been affected by a rare inflammatory disease linked to coronavirus.
At least 100 UK children have been affected, the BBC reported on Wednesday, with some requiring intensive care while others have recovered quickly.
A number of children have also been diagnosed with the condition - which can cause symptoms similar to toxic shock syndrome - elsewhere in Europe.
In April, National Health Service (NHS) doctors were urged to be vigilant for a rare but dangerous reaction in children.
This followed eight children falling ill in London, including a 14-year-old who died.
Doctors revealed that all eight children had similar symptoms when they were admitted to Evelina London Children's Hospital, including a high fever, rash, red eyes, swelling and general pain.
Most of the children had no serious lung or breathing issues, although seven were put on a ventilator to help address heart and circulation problems.
Doctors are terming it as a "new phenomenon" similar to Kawasaki disease shock syndrome - a rare condition that mainly affects children aged under five. Symptoms include fever, skin rashes, swelling of the glands and, in severe cases, inflammation of arteries of the heart.
But this new syndrome is also plaguing older children up to the age of 16, with a minority enduring more concerning complications.
'Exceptionally rare'
Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said most children who have suffered the condition have responded to treatment, are getting better and starting to go home.
The syndrome is "exceptionally rare", he said.
"This shouldn't stop parents letting their children exit lockdown," Prof Viner added in an interview with the BBC.
He said understanding more about the inflammatory disease "might explain why some children become very ill with Covid-19, while the majority are unaffected or asymptomatic".
Dr Liz Whittaker, clinical lecturer in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology, at Imperial College London, said the fact that the syndrome was occurring in the middle of a pandemic, suggests the two are linked.
"You've got the Covid-19 peak, and then three or four weeks later we're seeing a peak in this new phenomenon which makes us think that it's a post-infectious phenomenon," she told the BBC.
"This means it is likely to be something related to the build up of antibodies after infection."
Children are believe to account for just 1-2 per cent of all cases of coronavirus infection in the UK, totalling fewer than 500 hospital admissions
Children appear to be affected up to six weeks after they have been infected with the virus, which could explain the appearance of the new syndrome several weeks after the peak of UK cases.
'U.S health officials to issue an alert about the syndrome'
U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they will issue an alert telling doctors to report cases of a rare life-threatening inflammatory syndrome associated with Covid-19 in children to their state and local health departments.
The alert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be released on Wednesday or Thursday, a agency spokesman said in an emailed statement.
inflammatory syndrome associated with exposure to the new coronavirus, which has stricken children in Italy, Spain, Britain and the United States.
In New York, more than 100 children are reported to have developed the syndrome, which may occur days to weeks after a Covid-19 illness. At least three children have died, the state reported on Saturday. All three tested positive for the new coronavirus or had antibodies to it, suggesting the syndrome is linked to Covid-19.
Scientists are still trying to determine whether the syndrome is linked with the new coronavirus because not all children with it have tested positive for the virus.
'Children in northern Italy also affected'
Meanwhile, according to the BBC, a study by doctors in northern Italy has shown 10 children have been affected by the disease.
All 10 of the children in the study were admitted to a hospital in Bergamo - the city at the centre of the worst outbreak in Italy - between mid-February and mid-April, and recovered.
The children, who are around seven years old, often had severe symptoms such as heart complications and signs of toxic shock syndrome. They also required additional treatment with steroids.
Eight appeared to have already had the coronavirus while the other two had not, in antibody tests on the children, . However, swab tests for the virus are not thought to be useful because the reaction tends to occur many weeks after infection.
Dr Lucio Verdoni, report author and doctor at the Hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII in Bergamo, told the BBC: "Although this complication remains very rare, our study provides further evidence on how the virus may be affecting children."
UK child health specialists say it may not be something which just affects children.
They are now liaising with researchers in the US and in Europe to establish more about what they have called paediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome or (PIMS-TS).
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