Doctors warn of 'strange coronavirus syndrome' in kids

KUALA LUMPUR (May 15): Doctors in some countries are witnessing more cases of a “mystifying condition” affecting children after suffering from a Covid-19 infection, CNN reported yesterday.

It is now called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, and “appears to be a post-viral syndrome”, Dr Jeffrey Burns, a critical care specialist at Boston Children's Hospital told the broadcaster.

"This multisystem inflammatory syndrome is not directly caused by the virus. The leading hypothesis is that it is due to the immune response of the patient," said Burns.

Symptoms include persistent fever, inflammation and poor function in organs such as the kidneys or heart, while there may also be blood vessel inflammation, such as red eyes, a bright red tongue and cracked lips, Dr Moshe Arditi, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, revealed.

There have also been several reports of the syndrome in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and more than 100 cases in the state of New York, Reuters reported.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today issued guidance to doctors on how to recognise and report cases of this syndrome in children.

Reuters also reported that the condition “shares symptoms with toxic shock and Kawasaki disease including fever, rashes, swollen glands and, in severe cases, heart inflammation”.

The guidance “defines the condition as occurring in children under 21 with fever, evidence of inflammation, illness severe enough to require hospitalization and impairment of multiple organs such as the heart, kidneys, blood vessels, gut, skin and nerves”.

Children with the condition should also be tested positive for “current infection with the novel coronavirus or for antibodies demonstrating a recent infection”, said the report.

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