NHS issues doctors urgent alert about a coronavirus-related condition in children

NHS doctors have been issued an urgent alert about a sharp rise in the number of children being admitted to intensive care with a coronavirus-related condition. 

In an alert sent to GPs, health chiefs said: ‘There is growing concern that a [COVID-19] related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK.

‘Over 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.’ 

Children are not thought to be badly affected by COVID-19 – very few have been diagnosed around the world since the pandemic began and even fewer have died.

Young people’s apparent resilience to the disease has baffled doctors for weeks because they are often ‘super-spreaders’ of viral illnesses such as flu.

The children being seen with this condition are commonly suffering from stomach pain and ‘gastrointestinal symptoms’ – which could include vomiting and diarrhoea.

Doctors have compared the mysterious condition to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease which, combined, cause harmful internal swelling, fever and breathing problems – all hallmark signs of COVID-19.  

But some of the children presenting with the illness have tested negative for the coronavirus, further complicating the diagnosis.  

The memo, which was sent out by an NHS trust in London and tweeted by the Paediatric Intensive Care Society, said: ‘The cases have in common overlapping features of toxic shock syndrome and atypical Kawasaki disease with blood parameters consistent with severe COVID-19 in children.’  

The alert, seen by the Health Service Journal, told GPs to refer children with symptoms including abdominal pain as a ‘matter of urgency’.