15 Children are in the hospital with mysterious illness possibly tied to COVID-19

NEW YORK — Fifteen children, many of whom had the coronavirus, have recently been hospitalized in New York City with a mysterious syndrome that doctors do not yet fully understand but that has also been reported in several European countries, health officials announced Monday night.

Many of the children, ages 2 to 15, have shown symptoms associated with toxic shock or Kawasaki disease, a rare illness in children that involves inflammation of the blood vessels, including coronary arteries, the city’s health department said.

None of the New York City patients with the syndrome have died, according to a bulletin from the health department, which describes the illness as a “multisystem inflammatory syndrome potentially associated with COVID-19.”

Reached late Monday night, the state health commissioner, Dr. Howard A. Zucker, said state officials were also investigating the unexplained syndrome.

The syndrome has received growing attention in recent weeks as cases began appearing in European countries hit hard by the coronavirus.

“There are some recent rare descriptions of children in some European countries that have had this inflammatory syndrome, which is similar to the Kawasaki syndrome, but it seems to be very rare,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, a World Health Organization scientist, said at a news briefing last week.

It was not immediately known whether children in other parts of the United States have come down with this illness. New York City has been the center of the pandemic.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, tends to be much more dangerous for older people and those with underlying health conditions. Children are less likely to become seriously ill than adults. But some do. In New York City, six children have died of COVID-19, according to data from the health department.

Reports of children sick with the unexplained syndrome in New York City have been circulating for several days, but Monday’s bulletin was the first time the city’s health authorities warned doctors to be on the lookout for patients who might have it.

Source: Yahoo News