NEW YORK | Some 15 children have been hospitalized in recent days in New York City because they suffered from an inflammatory disease that could be linked to the coronavirus, and dozens of cases have already been reported elsewhere.
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The patients, who were hospitalized between April 17 and May 1, aged 2 to 15, all had fever, and some had rashes, abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhea, authorities said. health of the city.
Their symptoms resembled those of Kawasaki disease, an inflammatory disease that most commonly affects children under 5, or toxic shock syndrome, linked to the production of toxins in response to a bacterial infection.
All of these children needed respiratory or cardiac support, and sometimes both.
The patients received treatment which included aspirin and none died of the disease.
New York City Department of Health official Oxiris Barbot said no formal link had been established between the disease and the coronavirus.
Among the sick children, 4 tested positive for the coronavirus and 6 others had antibodies.
“We are not sure what it is,” she explained during the mayor’s daily press briefing. “We are still learning things about how Covid-19 works every day. ”
Even if the number of cases remains modest compared to the figures of contamination of the coronavirus in New York, the mayor of New York Bill de Blasio estimated that it was “sufficient […] to worry us ”.
Health officials have suggested there could be many more cases, with only the most serious having been reported.
The mayor called on all New York parents to be vigilant and to report any child with similar symptoms to healthcare professionals.
Pediatricians have also been alerted, so as to better identify possible new cases.
Several similar cases have been reported recently in Europe, mainly in the countries most affected by the coronavirus.
Dr Barbot spoke of cases in Philadelphia and Boston on Tuesday.
Untreated, Kawasaki disease or toxic shock syndrome can lead to death in some cases.
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