Many Mumbai hospitals have reported symptoms of COVID-19 in children which look like Kawasaki disease.

Coronavirus impact on kids: After months of COVID-19 outbreak in India, it has been observed that among symptomatic cases that people at times are having different symptoms. First it was fever, difficulty in breathing and cough, however, many other symptoms like loss of hearing, taste have also been added to the list. In children, the novel Coronavirus has led to Kawasaki-like symptoms. Many Mumbai hospitals have reported symptoms of COVID-19 in children which look like Kawasaki disease.

It is to note that Kawasaki disease affects children that are 5 years of age or below. In this disease, a high grade fever is formed and there is inflammation in blood vessels which in some cases can cause some severe damage to coronary arteries. Symptoms like these are seen in some Coronavirus cases- mainly 10-14 years of age, the Indian Express reported.

According to the report, a 14-year old patient had been admitted to a private hospital in Mumbai after complaints of rash and high fever (symptoms of Kawasaki). She was tested for Coronavirus and shifted to ICU as the condition worsened. Further, the report noted that the young patient had undergone an ELISA test which showed development of antibodies against Coronavirus which means that the patient fought with the infection.

Citing Dr Tanu Singhal, a paediatric infectious diseases expert, the report highlighted that while Kawasaki disease impacts children below 5 years of age, its symptoms are reported in COVID-19 cases among children of 10-14 years. Kawasaki-like symptoms can be seen in children after two-three weeks of Coronavirus infection. According to her, two cases like these have come up- one at a private hospital in Jogeshwar and another at SRCC Hospital.

Further, Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital also recorded four cases of Coronavirus with Kawasaki like symptoms. Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of the hospital said that even though Kawasaki-like symptoms are there, children have been tested negative for COVID-19 as there is a possibility of antibody development in their bodies by then. Some more study and data will be needed to come up with a conclusion, Dr Biswa R Panda, a paediatric cardiac surgeon at the hospital told the IE.

Currently in Maharashtra, 14,474 Coronavirus cases have surfaced with patients aged below 20 years. Among this, 5,103 cases are of those under 10 years of age and 9,371 cases are recorded between the ages of 11 and 20. Cases like these were earlier reported in the US, China, Italy and Spain in April this year where children developed these Kawasaki-like symptoms.

After studying such cases, the Journal of American Medical Association also published a report where 58 children with Coronavirus had Kawasaki-like symptoms. This was then termed as a rare combination ‘Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome Temporally Associated With SARS-CoV-2’. The World Health Organisation, on the other hand, then called it a Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome.