Now it may seem that the coronavirus has passed by and you can relax. But this is not so - they just began to talk a little less about him. The number of new infections every day is still in the tens of thousands, and scientists continue to find new side effects. Not new, but important to understand, is Kawasaki syndrome. Recently, he began to be diagnosed more and more often and scientists associate this with the coronavirus. According to research, most of its owners were (or are) a carrier of COVID-19. It is up to you to decide whether it is dangerous or not, but it is worth familiarizing yourself with this phenomenon.
Is coronavirus dangerous for children?
Recently, there has been an increasing opinion that coronavirus can lead to the development of Kawasaki syndrome in children. This is a fairly rare disease, but against the backdrop of a pandemic, the number of diagnosed cases increased several times and most cases were recorded in children who were infected with coronavirus.
Kawasaki disease is an inflammatory disease of unknown cause that mainly affects children aged 5 years and younger, but it also occurs in older children.
At the beginning of the pandemic, it was said that the coronavirus is not as bad for children as it is for adults. They say they get infected much less often, and get sick much easier, but against this background, people relaxed too much.
Then everything changed. Beginning in April, experts began to track cases of Kawasaki syndrome in children, which often led to severe forms of development and even death. Symptoms vary greatly, as do their severity, but many children ended up in intensive care, which could not but cause anxiety
The idea that COVID-19 is sparing young people is false,”said Dr. Lawrence K. Kleinman in a Science Daily article“Parents must continue to take the virus seriously.
Symptoms of Kawasaki disease
Kawasaki syndrome was discovered relatively recently and scientists do not have much experience in studying it. That is why they do not know how to treat patients who have been diagnosed with his symptoms. Meanwhile, in the United States alone, there are about 100 children with this disease in hospitals.
In addition to the need for treatment, this state of affairs raises other questions. For example, is it possible to open schools, is it possible to let children into public places, and most importantly, how can they be treated at all?
Symptoms include blood clots in the lungs, chest pain, heart palpitations, and organ failure. In some cases, this leads to cardiac arrest. Scientists are inclined to believe that the problems are caused by one reason - a change in the properties of blood vessels, which become more fragile.
According to one version, this is a complex reaction of the child's immune system, which does not understand what to do in this case and begins to save the body to the detriment of the organs and tissues of blood vessels. In any case, this always requires emergency medical attention. This data was also shared by Dr. Christopher Strother, director of emergency medical services at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, in an interview with The Washington Post.
The CDC and WHO have termed this condition “Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children” (PDF) or MIS-C. It is also called "pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome" or "pediatric hyperinflammatory syndrome".
In the early stages of the pandemic, doctors noted that children are less likely than adults to have symptoms of COVID-19, which require hospitalization. In general, this is true, but it turns out that children have their own diseases. It is also noted that children are less likely to spread coronavirus, but now this can be questioned.
Why is Kawasaki disease spread
The encouraging information relaxed the parents and they became less responsible in protecting their children from the coronavirus, but, as we can see, in vain. Cases are becoming more and more and scientists do not know whether this symptom manifests itself over time or Kawasaki disease manifests itself immediately after infection with the coronavirus. Perhaps the wave will only grow.
The hallmark of diseases caused by coronavirus in children is that they do not have difficulty breathing, but in general, the disease is often much more severe. It is noteworthy that the cases when a symptom occurs in children without coronavirus are explained by doctors by insufficient quality diagnostics and possible detection errors.
There is also a version that Kawasaki disease may already be "on edge" in the bodies of some people (especially children), but the "trigger" for it is the coronavirus. That is, even if he himself did not harm a person, he can trigger the mechanism of Kawasaki disease.
What patients say about Kawasaki syndrome
One teenager told the New York Times about his feelings after he recovered from Kawasaki disease. He described the feeling as if "someone injected you with an injection of pain." Moreover, his illness was not in an acute stage.
A 12-year-old girl told The Washington Post that she only remembers “strange” bluish lips and feeling “super tired” before doctors said she had cardiac arrest.
There are currently no known treatments for Kawasaki syndrome. There are none for the coronavirus either. But despite this, scientists continue to work and try to come up with something. It remains for us to take care of each other, no matter how hackneyed it sounds, and most importantly, take care of ourselves and not neglect masks, sanitizers, social distance and other preventive measures. Each person should understand that he is alone and only he can protect himself from the disease. And also their children.