A five-year-old boy died in New York State from a mysterious inflammatory disease with symptoms close to Kawasaki disease, probably linked to Covid-19, said the governor of New York on Friday.
There are now 73 reported cases of such symptoms in children in this state, and state health services are investigating the death of the five-year-old child as in other cases, said Governor Andrew Cuomo .
"There has been at least one death because of this, and there may be others we are investigating," he added, presenting a list of symptoms for which parents are encouraged to consult.
Twenty cases in France
According to CBS, a seven-year-old boy died last week in a New York suburb, with similar symptoms.
For the past two weeks, dozens of cases have been reported, in the United States but also in France, the United Kingdom, Italy or Spain, of children affected by these symptoms close to a rare affection, Kawasaki disease . The link to Covid-19 is not formally established, but scientists believe it is likely.
In New York City itself, city officials said on Tuesday that 15 children had been hospitalized with similar symptoms, including rash, abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhea. Four had tested positive for coronavirus, and six had developed antibodies suggesting previous infection.
In an article published online Wednesday by the medical journal The Lancet , British doctors described the first eight cases seen in children in London, one of whom died. Described for the first time in 1967 in Japan, Kawasaki disease mainly affects young children. Its origin is not precisely known and could combine infectious, genetic and immune factors.
"The nightmare of all parents"
Before the onset of these cases, Covid-19 disease was known to develop in severe forms in children only exceptionally. The disease, and its sometimes fatal acute respiratory syndromes, seemed to attack mainly the elderly and adults with risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, overweight, heart or respiratory failure.
But as the pandemic progresses, caregivers discover new features and complications related to the new coronavirus.
The death announced by Andrew Cuomo comes as the epidemic has been slowly receding since mid-April in New York State, which has long been the epicenter of it in the United States. The coronavirus has already infected more than 330,000 people and killed more than 20,000 - including 216 on Thursday - in this state of some 20 million inhabitants. "It would be really very painful" if the link with the Covid was confirmed, said the governor. "So many people consoled themselves (...) in thinking that the children were not suffering from this virus", "it is the nightmare of all parents," he added.
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