Covid-19-related illness in children? After London, alert in the United States

A school bus delivers meals to children and their families in Seattle on May 6, 2020. KAREN DUCEY / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP

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US authorities issued a warning to health professionals on Thursday (May 14th) concerning a rare, but potentially fatal, inflammatory disease affecting children and possibly linked to Covid-19.

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The disease was first reported in late April in the UK. It is multi-inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), according to the American Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). A hundred cases, including at least three deaths, were then reported in New York State.

"  Healthcare providers who have treated or treated patients under the age of 21 who meet the criteria for [disease] MIS-C should report suspected cases to their local health department  ," said the CDC.

Unable to make a diagnosis

Among its symptoms, fever and inflammation of several organs requiring hospitalization, with the inability to establish a diagnosis, as well as exposure to Covid-19 or confirmation of the disease in the patient.

Doctors confronted with this disease have observed symptoms similar to those of Kawasaki disease , a vascular syndrome affecting young children, the cause of which remains unknown.

No similar case in Asia

According to the CDC, the hypothesis of this disease must be considered "  for any infant death with proof of an infection with SARS-CoV-2  ", the name of the new coronavirus causing the disease Covid-19. These inflammatory symptoms appear to occur four to six weeks after the child has been infected with the virus, when he has already developed antibodies.

Further strengthening the mystery around this disease, no similar case has been reported in children in Asia, including in China where the virus appeared in December. Some experts suggest the possibility of genetic reasons.

► To listen: Kawasaki disease, contagiousness ... children more exposed to the coronavirus?

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  • Coronavirus
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Health and Medicine

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