Paramedic Randy Lilly, wearing personal protection equipment (PPE), tends to a 10-month-old boy with fever while riding by ambulance with the infant’s mother to Stamford Hospital on April 04, 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. Fever is a common symptom of COVID-19, although cases with young children are relatively rare. The child’s status is unknown.
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New York is investigating how Covid-19 impacts children after a 5-year-old boy in New York City died this week from coronavirus-related complications, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.
“This is every parent’s nightmare, right? That your child may actually be affected by this virus. But it’s something that we have to consider seriously now,” Cuomo said at a news briefing. “While rare, we’re seeing some cases where children affected with the Covid virus can become ill with symptoms similar to the kawasaki disease or the toxic shock-like syndrome.”
The child in NYC died Thursday and the state department of health is investigating several other cases, he said.
Toxic shock syndrome is a rare, life-threatening condition caused by bacteria getting into the body and releasing harmful toxins. Symptoms include a high temperature, a sunburn-like rash and flu-like symptoms such as a headache and sore throat.
Kawasaki disease causes swelling of the heart’s blood vessels and mainly affects children under the age of 5, according to the U.K.’s NHS. Symptoms include a rash, swollen glands in the neck, dry or cracked lips and red fingers or toes. The Mayo Clinic says it is usually treatable.
The World Health Organization has previously warned that the coronavirus appears to cause some children to develop a rare inflammatory disease.
Governor Cuomo
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