Doctors have been sent an alert by the NHS warning of a coronavirus-related syndrome that could be emerging in children in the UK.
The alert, sent to GPs by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in north London and seen by the Health Service Journal, says an "infectious pathogen" affecting children could be "coronavirus-related" or share characteristics with Covid-19.
It says 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."
According to NHS England, severe Covid-19 cases are still very rare in children and the alert is a standard way of making sure clinicians are made aware of any potential emerging links so they are able to give children and young people the right investigations and care as quickly as possible.
Symptoms include a high temperature that lasts for five days or more, often with a rash and/or swollen glands in the neck.
Patients may also have abdominal pain, "gastrointestinal symptoms" and symptoms of inflammation around the heart.
Effects have been seen in both children with and without coronavirus, but there is evidence some patients previously had coronavirus, the alert adds.
The alert, tweeted by the Paediatric Intensive Care Society, refers to atypical Kawasaki disease, a condition that mainly affects children under the age of five. However NHS England stressed there is not yet a direct link between the coronavirus and Kawasaki disease.
Children also display signs similar to toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a severe illness associated with infections.
“However, our advice remains the same: parents should be reassured that children are unlikely to be seriously ill with Covid-19 but if they are concerned about their children’s health for any reason, they should seek help from a health professional.”
According to the NHS, children are contracting Covid-19 at the same rate as adults but are suffering less severe symptoms on the whole.
The latest figures for hospital deaths of patients testing positive for Covid-19 in England show that up to 5pm on April 25 there had been nine deaths between the ages of 0 and 19. This represents 0.05 per cent of all hospital deaths in England.
PICS advised for doctors to have "early discussions" with regional paediatric infectious disease and critical care teams.
