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May 11, 2020 By Allie Griffin
A growing number of children are developing a rare and mysterious condition linked to the coronavirus in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday.
Across the five boroughs, 38 children as of Monday have developed the condition doctors are calling “pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome.” Nine cases are pending and one child has died, the mayor said.
Last week, the city had just 15 cases of the syndrome, including an 8-year-old Richmond Hill boy who suffered heart failure and was placed on a ventilator, but has since improved.
“Previously this is something that we didn’t see cases of, then we started to see a few cases, then we saw more cases, now we’ve actually lost a child to this syndrome,” de Blasio said at a press conference Sunday. “And that is deeply deeply troubling.”
The increasing number of cases has alarmed city health experts who had previously believed the deadly virus largely overlooks children.
“There is a rare condition which we’re seeing more of just in the last days and it’s causing tremendous concern,” de Blasio said. “I’m deeply concerned as a father.”
The syndrome is similar to toxic shock syndrome or Kawasaki disease, health experts say. It causes inflammation that can send the body into a state of shock and cause organ failure.
If left untreated the condition can permanently damage a child’s heart.
Symptoms of the syndrome include persistent fever, rash, abdominal pain and vomiting.
“Every parent out there if you see these symptoms, take them seriously, act immediately,” de Blasio said. “This is a real problem, but it’s a problem that can be addressed if it’s caught early.”
All children with the symptoms will be tested for coronavirus antibodies at the city’s public hospitals, de Blasio said.
Of the 38 cases, 47 percent tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, 81 percent of other children had antibodies for the virus, de Blasio said.
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8 Comments
My son had Kawasaki when he was a toddler almost 20 yrs ago. I don’t recall it being such a lethal condition or was hard to treat. He also had a strange case of measles. He had all his vaccines and not traveled anywhere. He was also never in a daycare setting so his interaction with other children or outside people was minimal. This all happened before he started school.
Which lead me to believe that it was due induced by vaccination.
Every maladie will somehow be related to coronavirus from now on.
“Generally if the condition is identified early there is definitive treatment, and there are typically no long-term consequences,” Barbot said.
What is the treatment?
No way. We must keep building ‘affordable’ apartment buildings and cramming amazon hipsters inside.
Nothing healthy about living in NYC. And it wirde now. The food in our markets looks old and smells of sanitizer. Someone should seriously look into that. And most kids in nyc are stuck at home with no place to play outside and enjoy some sunshine. Parents that could should leave this city and come back when there is a vaccine. Two friends of mine with children left for good.
Sure cause everyone has disposable income to just pick up and relocate, especially those without a job right now.
I think NYC is the first to announce such cases worldwide. Very sad times especially for those of us that are stick here with children.
The UK was the first country to notify the US of cases in their country.