The ‘new’ Covid disease in kids

 Understand that Covid-19 is no longer as sensational as it was and people have become numb to the numbers. How could it get any worse? By panicking parents of course!

It is true that the corona virus that causes covid-19 is a novel virus. It is brand spanking new and we don’t know much about it but one thing that we do know about is the Kawasaki syndrome. This is being touted as the ‘new’ Covid disease in kids and news reports designed to scare people are rampant.

As I have said many times before: public health communicators need to be credible, transparent and trustworthy. The sheer volume of Covid-19 misinformation and disinformation is ‘crowding out” accurate public health guidance. It is impossible to put out all the fires that sensational ‘news’ starts but I would like to give you the basic facts about the Kawasaki Syndrome also know as Kawasaki Disease.

Kawasaki syndrome usually occurs in children under 5. It is characterized by a fever lasting more then 5 days, rashes on the body especially in the armpits and groin area. Scaling of the skin of the limbs starting around the nails. A ‘strawberry’ red tongue or lining of the mouth and lips, red eyes (>90%), swollen glands on one side of the neck, arthritis (after the second week) of the large joints and organ dysfunction most notably of the heart. Kawasaki’s is not an ‘instant’ kind of syndrome and can go on for weeks. The highest risk of death is after the 10^th day of illness but the mortality rate is only <0.5% with treatment. The main cause of death is that it causes aneurysms (ballooning) and inflammation of the small arteries of the heart which can cause a child to have a heart attack.

The ‘Kawasaki-like’ syndrome of Covid has some symptoms similar to the original syndrome but it is generally more correctly called the multi-system inflammatory syndrome associated with Covid. Strangely there are usually no breathing issues with this and GI symptoms are commoner than cough. The biggest danger with this is heart damage. It is usually a latent condition that develops weeks after the initial coronavirus infection and then assaults a child’s circulatory system with inflammation rather than directly attacking the lungs.

Whatever the situation with Covid-19, in children and adults, the most lethal damage occurs when the immune system goes haywire. This causes release of cytokines resulting in a damaging condition called the cytokine storm which damages the tissues of several organs ranging from the lungs, heart, kidneys and liver. This is probably the underlying issue before the ‘Kawasaki-like’ syndrome starts.

The bottom line with kids and Covid is that so far, in the US, most of the kids that have died have had pre-existing conditions.  

Nearly half of those patients had complex developmental disorders like cerebral palsy or lifelong technology-dependent treatments like tracheostomies or feeding tubes. Other pre-existing health issues included cancer and suppressed immune systems from organ transplants or immunological conditions.

Anyway you cut it, the mortality rate for children in this country is still less than 2%  which is very low (much lower than influenza) and the basic tenets remain the same:

Hand-washing, sanitizing, social distancing, masks and gloves, modeling for kids. Vitamin C and vitamin D.

Please focus on the basics they will help you avoid any form of Covid illness, whatever you want to call it. Function on facts not fear.