Kawasaki-like vascular syndrome threatens Europe

This disease may be related to the coronavirus which affects children and which worries doctors.

British health officials were investigating whether there was a link between the coronavirus and a serious illness that has recently affected a small number of children. After England and France, similar cases of this childhood illness are also reported in Belgium.

The disease highlighted on Monday by British doctors resembles Kawasaki disease, a vascular syndrome affecting young children and the cause of which remains undetermined.

Matt Hancock
British Minister of Health

“This is a new disease which we believe may be caused by the coronavirus. We are not 100% sure because some of the people who got it have not tested positive (for coronavirus). So we are currently doing a lot of research. But this is something that concerns us, “

The minister said there were “a small number of cases”. “It is a very rare disease, but I think it is entirely plausible that it is due to this virus, at least in certain cases” declared on Monday the chief of the health services, Chris Whitty, during of the government’s daily coronavirus press conference.

The British pediatric intensive care company (PICS) relayed an alert from the British public health service, NHS England, on Monday concerning a small increase in the number of cases of critically ill children, some with Covid-19, others not. . Their syndromes were similar to those of Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome.

Symptoms in young patients include abdominal pain, gastrointestinal upset, and heart inflammation. Professor Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), recalled that there was a low probability that children with coronavirus would become seriously ill.

Cases also in Belgium

Jean-Christophe Goffard

This Wednesday morning, Jean-Christophe Goffard, head of internal medicine at the Erasmus hospital, explained that there were also cases of this disease in Belgium. “Yes, there have been cases in England, in France.

Probably also cases in Belgium of which I am aware, “he explains at first before reconfirming a few seconds later when Fabrice Grosfilley asks him again if there is” at least one case in Belgium “. “Yes, a priori,” replied the doctor.

But he urged citizens not to panic since there is a treatment for this disease. “This is a somewhat mysterious disease that has existed and has been described for a very long time: there are both skin and cardiac manifestations, in particular by causing infarction in children. But there are treatments for this disease. And there, currently, there is an association that seems to be emerging between this disease and the new coronavirus. However, we are still speculating, but nevertheless, there are a few cases that have found it. But there is a treatment. The main thing is not to miss it. “

Cases also in the UK and now in France

Health officials in the UK are trying to establish whether there is a link between the coronavirus pandemic and a serious illness recently affecting a small number of children, Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Tuesday.

This recently appeared disease resembles Kawasaki disease, a vascular syndrome affecting young children, the cause of which remains unknown.

According to the regional daily La Dépêche du Midi, around twenty similar cases have been identified in the Paris region.

“This is a new disease that we think can be caused by the coronavirus,” said Matt Hancock . “We are not 100% sure because some of the people who got it have not tested positive (for coronavirus). So we are currently doing a lot of research. But this is something that concerns us, “he added.

The minister said there were “a small number of cases”.

“It is a very rare disease, but I think it is entirely plausible that it is due to this virus, at least in certain cases” declared on Monday the chief of the health services, Chris Whitty, during of the government’s daily coronavirus press conference.

The British pediatric intensive care company (PICS) relayed an alert from the British public health service, NHS England, on Monday concerning a small increase in the number of cases of critically ill children, some with Covid-19, others not. . Their syndromes were similar to those of Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome.

Symptoms in young patients include abdominal pain, gastrointestinal upset, and heart inflammation.

Professor Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), recalled that there was a low probability that children with coronavirus would become seriously ill.

“We know that a very small number of children can become seriously ill with Covid-19, but it is very rare,” he said in a statement, noting that “children seem to be part of the population.” least affected by this infection. “

Cases in the Paris region

About 20 children “have syndromes of this type” in Ile-de-France, says the Dépêche du Midi in its edition dated April 29.

“These are children who are between 2 and 10 years old, who have no significant history, and no chronic disease,” said in this daily doctor Isabelle Kone Paut, professor of pediatric rheumatology at Kremlin hospital- Bicêtre in Paris.

“For the past month, we have been receiving regular resuscitation calls for children with severe myocarditis and who also have signs of Kawasaki disease, some of whom have tested positive for Covid-19”, continues this specialist.

“This is an alert that we take very seriously in France, we are sending a signal, we must be vigilant,” said Professor Alexandre Belot, a rheumatologist and pediatrician at the Woman, Mother and Child Hospital in Lyon. Dispatch columns.

“There is no evidence today to establish a link between Kawasaki disease and Covid-19 but we find that children tested positive for Covid-19 develop symptoms that correspond to those of Kawasaki disease as unstable tension and myocarditis for severe forms, ”adds Mr. Belot, also a researcher at Inserm.