The National Health Service (NHS) has been issued an urgent alert about a spike in the number of children being admitted to intensive care with a Coronavirus-related condition.
In an alert sent to GPs, health chiefs said: ‘There is growing concern that a [COVID-19] related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK.
‘Over the last three weeks, there has been an apparent rise in the number of children of all ages presenting with a multi-system inflammatory state requiring intensive care across London and also in other regions of the UK.’
According to NHS doctors, the children who are seen with the [COVID-19] related inflammatory syndrome are commonly suffering from stomach pain and ‘gastrointestinal symptoms’ – which could include vomiting and diarrhoea.
The doctors said they have compared the mysterious condition to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease which can cause redness of the tongue and rashes, but it is unclear whether this illness is having those effects.
But some of the children presenting with the illness have tested negative for the Coronavirus, further complicating the diagnosis, the Health Service Journal reported.
The memo, which was sent out by an NHS trust in London and tweeted by the Paediatric Intensive Care Society, said: ‘The cases have in common overlapping features of toxic shock syndrome and atypical Kawasaki disease with blood parameters consistent with severe COVID-19 in children.’
