I'm not posting this to scare anyone - just for us all to be vigilant. From the Guardian live feed this morning:
An urgent alert issued to doctors has raised concerns that a serious coronavirus-related syndrome may be emerging in children in the UK.
The alert states that in the past three weeks there has been a rise in children being admitted to hospital with a syndrome that has the characteristics of serious Covid-19, according to the Health Service Journal. Children have so far been deemed to be at low risk of serious ill health from the virus.
The alert states:
“[In 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.
“There is a growing concern that a [Covid-19] related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK, or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infectious pathogen associated with these cases.”
There is little information about how widespread the condition is but the number of children affected is likely to be small, the HSJ reports. Some of the children have tested positive for Covid-19, and some appear to have previously had the virus, it adds.
The alert, first issued to GPs in north London, also describes the cases as showing features of toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, which causes blood vessels to become inflamed. It advised doctors to “refer children presenting with these symptoms as a matter of urgency”.