A mysterious new illness seems to be affecting children which medical experts believe may be associated with coronavirus.

At least 15 children aged between 2 and 15 were hospitalised in New York City with an inflammatory disease. Health experts believe that the symptomology of the infection is similar to that of Kawasaki syndrome.

Furthermore, it was found that out of the 15 hospitalised, four tested positive for coronavirus, and the other six who tested negative have coronavirus antibodies, which means that they had been infected with the virus earlier but recovered.

The symptoms of the potential blood vessel disorder known as Kawasaki syndrome include fever, vomiting, rash, swollen lymph nodes, vomiting, eye inflammation, abdominal pain.

“Even though it’s uncommon, compared to the hundreds of thousands of people who have contracted this disease, it’s still causing us concern,” CBS New York quoted Mayor Bill de Blasio as saying.

One New York doctor named Dr. Barbot told CBS New York that children contracting the Kawasaki disease have 'prolonged high fevers' lasting several days, 'very red eyes', 'brightly colored lips', 'rash', and 'strawberry tongue', which means that the tongue becomes very bright and red.

“Generally, if the condition is identified early, there is definitive treatment, and there are typically no long-term consequences,” she continued. “However, if the syndrome is not identified early, there can be long-term consequences, most commonly related to ongoing heart problems.” she added.

Another doctor named Aryeh Baer, a pediatric infectious disease specialist t Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital in Hackensack, New Jersey, said that he treated five children with similar symptoms successfully. He stated that all the patients recovered with supporting care which includes antibiotics and blood pressure medication.

Speaking on if the disease is associated with COVID-19, he said, " “We can’t say for sure that it’s COVID, but it certainly would be a big coincidence. We’ve never seen anything like this before with all these kids with inflammatory syndrome,”

“Maybe this is the equivalent in children, this exaggerated response. That’s why we’re not seeing positive results on the COVID testing. Maybe they had a really mild illness or were asymptomatic and now they have the autoimmune phase,” he added.

A health alert has been issued regarding the same by the New York City’s Department of Health, urging hospitals to track, and report such cases.