The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will warn pediatricians about a potentially lethal inflammatory syndrome that could be linked to coronavirus, CNN reported Wednesday, citing a CDC spokesman.
According to CNN, the multi-system syndrome was first reported by New York officials, and was diagnosed over the week in other states as well. The symptoms of the dangerous syndrome include persistent fever, inflammation, poor function in one or more organs and other shock-like symptoms.
Potential cases of the syndrome, unofficially named "Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Potentially Associated with COVID-19" by an informal pediatrician panel reportedly organized by the Boston Children's Hospital, were also recorded in Israel.
According to Ynet, over the last several weeks, at least six children were hospitalized with symptoms seemingly resembling the Kawasaki disease, an illness that causes inflammation in blood vessels. While it is suspected that the young patients were suffering from the novel illness, some tested negative for the virus.
"The Israel Pediatric Association is aware of children that contracted coronavirus and developed, following the infection, a severe inflammatory syndrome accompanied with a multi-system dysfunction," the association's head Shai Ashkenazi told Ynet. "It is an intense immune reaction that leads to Kawasaki-like symptoms," he explained.
"Similar cases have been reported throughout the world," Ashkenazi continued. "We still do not have the tools to estimate which of the children are likely to suffer from this complication of the coronavirus. The awareness of Israel's pediatricians has been raised regarding the syndrome."
According to CNN, the CDC warning will be aired on the Health Alert Network (HAN) to thousands of clinicians, including pediatricians, throughout the United States. A spokesman cited by CNN said the services will provide a working case definition of what cases look like."
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly said on Tuesday the New York State Department of Health was investigating around a hundred possible cases of the syndrome in children. According to CNN, state data shows more than half of the cases are in children aged five-14, with the syndrome affecting teenagers as well.
"We lost three children, (a) five-year-old boy, seven-year-old boy and 18-year-old girl," Cuomo said on Tuesday. In Kentucky, two cases of the syndrome were reported, one being a 10-year-old now in critical condition. The second patient, a 16-year-old, is reportedly in satisfactory condition.
"The children who get sick with this can have cardiovascular collapse and require supportive measures to maintain their blood pressure, or respiratory collapse requiring breathing support with a mechanical ventilator," the state's health commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said.