New York is suddenly experiencing a surge in cases of Kawasaki Disease in children aged 2 to 15 years old. According to the city's health department, at least 15 children in hospitals across New York are experiencing the same symptoms, such as persistent fever, rash, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting.
The said symptoms are suggestive of the rare inflammatory disease called Kawasaki Disease. Doctors are concerned about whether it has anything to do with the coronavirus. Out of the 15 pediatric patients, four tested positive for coronavirus.
NY's health department also reported that the patients required blood pressure support and that five of the pediatric patients required the use of mechanical ventilation due to respiratory problems.
Although Kawasaki Disease has been around for years, medical experts are still confused regarding many aspects of the disease, particularly its cause. With COVID-19 also yet being widely studied, many physicians are considering a possible link between the two.
Late in April, Britain's Paediatric Intensive Care Society delivered an alert saying there had been an escalation in the number of children with "a multi-system inflammatory state needing intensive care" across the country. Some of the first cases of the disease appeared in Italy and the United Kingdom.
Dr. Frank Esper, a physician at the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases, says the cases appearing in Europe and America might not even be Kawasaki disease. He cautions that there are many diseases with similar symptoms to the disease. He warns that the recent cases could be a new inflammatory disease caused by the coronavirus.
What is Kawasaki Disease?
Dr. Esper describes Kawasaki disease as one of the great mysteries of pediatrics. He says it's a disease pediatricians have been dealing with for decades.
Although doctors know how to provide medical management to the disease, Esper says many don't know its primary cause. Some doctors say specific pathogens cause the disease, while others claim that genetics has something to do with it.
He also adds that the disease is hard to diagnose, but the leading indicator of the disease lies within the heart. According to him, coronary artery aneurysm is the characteristic manifestation of Kawasaki disease from other inflammatory illnesses.
According to Britain's National Health Service, Kawasaki disease's symptoms include a high fever of at least 101 degrees lasting for five days or more, swollen neck glands, and a rash. Esper says the disease is more likely to cause 'mini-epidemics' in the wintertime and mostly affects children between the ages of two and six.
Is Truly Kawasaki Disease and is it Related to Coronavirus?
Medical professionals say its too early to conclude if the disease can be linked with COVID-19. Esper says they aren't even a hundred percent sure it is indeed Kawasaki disease. According to him, none of the reports mentioned coronary artery dilation, which would be a significant indication.
Dr. Sunil Sood, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Northwell Health's Southside Hospital and Cohen Children's Medical Center, says he doesn't think that the condition is Kawasaki.
Sood says the patients he's treated have been sicker, with inflammatory markers ten to 100 times higher than the average child with Kawasaki disease.
He urges parents and pediatricians to watch out for fever as well as other suggestive symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, confusion, red eyes, rash, swollen hands and feet, and passing out.
Sood encourages parents to bring their children to the hospital as soon as they develop any of the mentioned symptoms because it could lead to further heart complications, even acute heart failure.
Although an apparent boom in these cases has occurred, Sood says that children are still among the least affected group by the coronavirus. Data collected from more than 75,000 cases in China showed that children only made up 2.4% of all confirmed cases and mostly experienced only mild symptoms.
