Doctors from different countries are sounding the alarm of possible connections between Kawasaki Disease and COVID-19 among children. There have been no clear connections yet that could pin down the correlation but health experts are calling among fellows to stay vigilant on the matter.
What blurring the line is that many children who were recently admitted for Kawaski Disease have also tested positive for the novel coronavirus. However, there are kid patients who still tested negative for the virus. The latter cases stopped doctors from ruling with the finality that the two diseases are interconnected among children. Still, there is a chance that the kids, since being treated first for Kawasaki Disease, have cleared the coronavirus and that the test missed the infection.
The more significant possibility that is being looked into now is whether Kawasaki Disease is the effect of coronavirus to children as it is severe pneumonia to adults. Still, doctors said it is very early to draw a conclusion to this.
To date, there are 100 children in six countries taken in with Kawasaki Disease which doctors believed are related to COVID-19. The patients are children residing in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. The World Health Organization is looking into the matter as well after alerts from doctors in the UK.
Kawasaki Disease was first identified in Japan in 1967. The first cases outside of Japan were reported in Hawaii in 1976. With almost 50 years now since the mysterious disease was identified, it still boggles the mind of doctors at present.
The symptoms of the mysterious disease include toxic shock, high fever, and swollen lymph nodes. The disease causes inflammation of the arteries to the heart. It is among the most common cause of heart disease among children.
The first to call the attention to the matter are doctors from France where there were more than a dozen children with inflammation near the heart. The French health minister said there remained to be "insufficient" proof to link it to the novel coronavirus, the possibility should not be dismissed. In Paris, about 15 children were also observed to have the symptoms of Kawasaki Disease and later on tested positive of COVID-19.
In the US, at least three children are being treated for Kawasaki Disease at Columbia University Medical Center. Mark Gorelik, a specialist treating the kids, said the situation is at the very beginning of trying to understand what it means to both Kawasaki Disease and COVID-19. There was also one case in Standford University in California of one 6-month-old admitted for Kawasaki Disease and then tested positive for COVID-19.
In Australia, pediatric doctors are changing their approach in treating children with Kawasaki Disease now that there are reports of links with COVID-19. Most especially since the pandemic there has been no change in the number of patients with the mysterious disease even with many children only staying inside their homes. Australia is reporting one case of Kawasaki Disease per day across the country prior to the pandemic. With how little that number is, now that everyone is staying home, there should be a decrease in that rate. So far, the country continues to the same trend.
