The authorities in the
upscale New York City, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in the US, are
investigating 110 COVID-19 cases related to a rare inflammatory illness in
children that has claimed three lives, the city's Governor has said, describing
the situation as "serious".
The severe illness in
children and child deaths is linked to the serious inflammatory disease called
'Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Associated with COVID-19'. So
far, two boys aged 5 and 7 years and an 18-year-old girl have died due to the
illness.
New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo said at his daily coronavirus briefing on Thursday said that the New York
State Department of Health was now looking at 110 cases of a COVID-19 related
illness in children, similar to the Kawasaki disease or toxic shock-like
syndrome, describing the situation as "serious and concerning".
He said the New York State
and Department of Health were at the forefront in the US in investigating the
rare illness. Apart from New York, 16 other states are also seeing similar
cases. Warning that cases could grow in coming weeks and days, Cuomo said parents
should beware and immediately seek medical help if the child has a prolonged
fever (more than five days), difficulty in feeding (in infants) or is too sick
to drink fluids, has severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting, change in
skin colour, trouble in breathing, lethargy, irritability or confusion.
"Also, it tends to
present in children who were exposed to the COVID-19 virus and actually now
have the antibodies from the COVID-19 virus or still test positive for the
COVID-19 virus," Cuomo said.
The illness is affecting
children from less than one year old to 21 years old. "When you look at
over the 100 cases, that's the span, which is obviously a very frightening
development," he said.
New York City Mayor Bill de
Blasio said the occurrence of the rare illness in children linked to COVID-19
"is really troubling" since children consistently seemed to have very
little effect from the coronavirus so far.
"I say it as a parent,
it's really troubling to see now after we thought we understood a consistent
pattern, something new has been happening and the pediatric multi-system
inflammatory syndrome is a deep concern and we're going to throw everything
we've got at it," he said.
The number of children
affected continues to grow and while it is still a rare condition, the city's
health authorities are taking it very seriously and "we're now on high
alert and addressing because the numbers have grown."
He said there are a 100
confirmed cases in New York City, 55 of those cases either tested positive for
COVID-19 or tested positive for the antibodies.
"And we lost one child
and that is painful and awful for that family and for this city to have lost a
child, we don't want that ever to happen again. So, we're about to do the
maximum to get everyone informed, to get everyone the help they need to make
sure that parents and family members understood'" exactly what to do and
when to do it," he said.
Though most children who
get COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms, in the UK, a possible link has also
been reported between pediatric COVID-19 and serious inflammatory disease. The
inflammatory syndrome has features which overlap with Kawasaki disease and
toxic shock syndrome and may occur days to weeks after acute COVID-19
illness.
It can include persistent
fever, abdominal symptoms, rash, and even cardiovascular symptoms requiring
intensive care. The authorities said early recognition by pediatricians and
referral to a specialist including to critical care is essential. -- PTI