A mother has told how her two-year-old son was rushed to hospital with a dangerous ‘inflammatory syndrome’ thought to be linked to COVID-19.
Gemma Brown, 38, told MailOnline her son, Bertie, was admitted to Worcestershire Royal Hospital last month on his second birthday, when his temperature soared over 40C (104F) and his blotchy rash began to turn black.
Doctors were initially baffled but a senior consultant eventually diagnosed the boy with the rare Kawasaki disease, a form of toxic shock syndrome which causes the body’s immune system to attack its own organs.
But Bertie was not given a COVID-19 test, leaving both medics and his family in the dark about a possible link between Kawasaki disease and coronavirus.
Doctors were yesterday issued an alert about a sharp rise in the number of infants being admitted to intensive care across the UK with the ‘inflammatory syndrome’ over the past three weeks. Most of the children affected already have Kawasaki disease, NHS sources said.
Health chiefs today insisted they are ‘unaware’ of any deaths in British children from the inflammatory syndrome – despite Matt Hancock admitting that ‘some’ youngsters have mysteriously died with no underlying conditions.
Officials have refused to say how many British children have been affected by the illness but up to 20 have been hospitalised, it emerged today.
One child needed to be put on a form of life support after their heart and lungs began to fail. The majority of the patients are thought to be under the age of five.
Bertie Brown was admitted to Worcestershire Royal hospital last month on his second birthday after developing a fever and rash across his body
His temperature soared over 40C (104F) and the blotchy rash spread across his body and began to turn black
Doctors were initially baffled but a senior consultant eventually diagnosed the boy with the rare Kawasaki disease
The condition is a form of toxic shock syndrome which causes the body’s immune system to attack its own organs
‘I don’t know how the Government is going to prove there’s a link if they’re not testing patients,’ the mother-of-two from Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, said.
‘I asked for him to be tested, as I had a gut feeling that there was a connection between COVID-19 and Kawasaki.
‘Both attack your immune system and the whole family had been poorly with covid symptoms before Bertie fell ill.
‘I was adamant that there was a link and was begging for a test, but they just told me that there was no need to test the under-fives.’
The boy was given an immunoglobin transfusion and was in hospital for five days. ‘It was horrific seeing him like that,’ Mrs Brown said.
‘He didn’t have any respiratory problems but he was put in a ward on his own and he was easily the most poorly child in the hospital.
‘His rash had started out being itchy, but it quickly put him in agony. His temperature was dangerously high and they were monitoring him round the clock.’
Bertie, who was born very prematurely weighing only 1.5lb, has always had a weak immune system, making him susceptible to viruses.
Two-year-old Bertie Brown, his mother Gemma, 38, and his older brother George, 14
Bertie’s mother believes the painful rash (shown on his legs) was caused by a complication of coronavirus
But Bertie was not given a COVID-19 test, leaving both medics and his family in the dark about a possible link
‘Thank God he is OK now and has come home, though he’s still on Aspirin to prevent his blood clotting,’ his mother said.
‘He’s much better in himself. But the fact is that we just don’t know what’s been going on as he wasn’t tested for coronavirus.’
The Health Secretary was quizzed on LBC about the inflammatory syndrome and admitted he was ‘very worried’ by the mysterious complication. He was also asked about how many children had died from coronavirus.
He originally said all the deceased youngsters had ‘significant underlying health conditions’ but then backtracked immediately after host Nick Ferrari questioned him about the new inflammatory illness that had prompted the national alert. Mr Hancock then admitted ‘some’ children with no health woes had succumbed to COVID-19.
The Department of Health today insisted that Mr Hancock was not referring to children who have died from the inflammatory syndrome potentially linked to the disease – and was discussing COVID-19 deaths in general.
Mr Hancock revealed some of the children who needed intensive care from the inflammatory syndrome tested negative for the coronavirus, further complicating the diagnosis. And he told LBC they were looking into the situation with ‘great urgency’.
On Monday, doctors were issued an alert about a sharp rise of infants being admitted to intensive care with a Kawasaki-like disease in Britain and Italy.
The majority of Kawasaki patients are thought to be under the age of five, and some are so badly affected that they have to be put on life support.
The disease is a condition that causes inflammation in the walls of the blood vessels and affects mostly children under five years old.
There are roughly eight cases for every 100,000 children in the UK and statistics show it is fatal in three per cent of cases that go untreated.
The new COVID-19-linked cases are occurring when someone with Kawasaki disease contracts the virus and that produces complications, an NHS source told the Guardian.
Children are not thought to be badly affected by COVID-19 – very few youngsters have died around the world since the pandemic began in December.
Their 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 syndrome often suffer from stomach pain, cardiac inflammation and ‘gastrointestinal symptoms’ – which could include vomiting and diarrhoea.
Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said yesterday is ‘entirely plausible’ this spike is linked to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Speaking at No 10’s press briefing yesterday, he added: ‘Because we know that in adults who of course have much more disease than children do, big problems are caused by an inflammatory process and this looks rather like an inflammatory process, a rather different one.
Bertie, who was born very prematurely weighing only 1.5lb, has always had a weak immune system, making him susceptible to viruses
‘Therefore, given that we have got a new presentation of this at a time with a new disease, the possibility – it is not a definite, we need to look for other causes as well – but the possibility that there is a link is certainly plausible.’
NHS medical director Professor Stephen Powis sent an alert to his experts on Monday, instructing them to drill down into the alarming numbers of children with the syndrome.
According to the alert, which was originally shared with GPs in north London, children affected display signs similar to toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a severe illness associated with infections, and have blood markers in line with severe Covid-19 in children.
Doctors have compared the mysterious complication 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 needing intensive care have tested negative for the coronavirus, further complicating the diagnosis and raising questions that another pathogen could be behind the condition.
Officials have yet to offer any clarity on what the symptoms are, despite pleas from paediatricians to paint a clearer picture so they can look out for them.
It is not clear how many children have had the inflammatory syndrome, nor whether any have died with it. It is also unclear how old the children have been.
But it is thought to have only affected a ‘handful’ of children so far, according to one prominent paediatrician who admitted the complication could be caused by another pathogen.
Health chiefs admit they ‘don’t know’ how many British children have died from an inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus – despite ‘some’ youngsters mysteriously dying with no underlying conditions
A number of children with no underlying health conditions have died from a COVID-19-linked inflammatory syndrome, Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed today on LBC Radio
Health chiefs today insisted they are ‘unaware’ of any deaths in British children from a serious ‘inflammatory syndrome’ thought to be linked to the coronavirus – despite Matt Hancock admitting that ‘some’ youngsters have mysteriously died with no underlying conditions.
Doctors were yesterday issued an alert about a sharp rise in the number of infants being admitted to intensive care across the UK with the Kawasaki-like disease.
Officials have refused to say how many British children have been affected by the illness but up to 20 have fallen critically unwell, according to reports. One child needed to be put on a form of life support after their heart and lungs began to fail. The majority of the patients are thought to be under the age of five.
The illness appears to be similar to Kawasaki disease – which causes blood vessels to become inflamed, and toxic shock syndrome – an overreaction by the immune system which causes the body to attack its own organs.
The Health Secretary was quizzed on LBC about the inflammatory syndrome and admitted he was ‘very worried’ by the mysterious complication. He was also asked about how many children had died from coronavirus.
He originally said all the deceased youngsters had ‘significant underlying health conditions’ but then backtracked immediately after host Nick Ferrari questioned him about the new inflammatory illness that had prompted the national alert. Mr Hancock then admitted ‘some’ children with no health woes had succumbed to COVID-19.
The Department of Health today insisted that Mr Hancock was not referring to children who have died from the inflammatory syndrome potentially linked to the disease – and was discussing COVID-19 deaths in general.
Mr Hancock revealed some of the children who needed intensive care from the inflammatory syndrome tested negative for the coronavirus, further complicating the diagnosis. And he told LBC they were looking into the situation with ‘great urgency’.
Officials have yet to offer any clarity on exactly what the symptoms are, despite pleas from paediatricians to paint a clearer picture so they can look out for them. Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome, combined, cause harmful internal swelling, fever and breathing problems – all hallmark signs of COVID-19.
Speaking on LBC this morning, Mr Hancock was quizzed by Nick Ferrari about how many children had died from coronavirus. The Health Secretary originally said all deceased youngsters had ‘significant underlying health conditions’ but then backtracked to say ‘some’ children with no health woes had succumbed to the mysterious inflammatory syndrome.
Mr Hancock said: ‘We have lost some children, in all of the instances I know of they had quite significant underlying health conditions.’
When Mr Ferrari probed Mr Hancock about the new inflammatory illness, the Health Secretary backtracked, saying: ‘I just want to correct myself, there are some children who have died who didn’t have underlying health conditions that I know of.
‘It’s a new disease that we think may be caused by coronavirus. We’re not 100 per cent sure because some of the people who got it hadn’t tested positive, so we’re doing a lot of research now but it is something that we’re worried about. It is rare, although it is very significant for those children who do get it, the number of cases is small.
‘We put out at the weekend a call across the NHS because some cases of this had been identified and then this call essentially says to doctors in other parts of the country, “Have you seen this condition?” and then they collate the information and find out what’s going on.’
Officials told the PA news agency fewer than 20 children in England have been admitted to hospital with the mysterious syndrome.
Doctors have compared it to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease which, combined, cause harmful internal swelling, fever and breathing problems – all signs of coronavirus.
But some of the children needing intensive care have tested negative for COVID-19, further complicating the diagnosis and raising questions that another pathogen could be behind the condition.
Officials have yet to offer any clarity on what the symptoms are, despite pleas from paediatricians to paint a clearer picture so they can look out for them.
It is not clear how many children have had the inflammatory syndrome, nor how many have died with it. It is also unclear how old the children have been.
However, most of the children affected by the inflammatory syndrome already have Kawasaki disease, an NHS source told The Guardian.
Kawasaki disease is a condition that causes inflammation in the walls of the blood vessels and affects mostly children under five years old.
There are roughly eight cases for every 100,000 children in the UK and statistics show it is fatal in three per cent of cases that go untreated.
The new COVID-19-linked cases are occurring when someone with Kawasaki disease contracts the virus and it produces complications, the source told the newspaper.
Children are not thought to be badly affected by COVID-19 – very few youngsters have died around the world since the pandemic began in December.
Their apparent resilience to the disease has baffled doctors for weeks because they are often ‘super-spreaders’ of viral illnesses such as flu.
But children being seen with this syndrome often suffer from stomach pain, heart inflammation and ‘gastrointestinal symptoms’ – which could include vomiting and diarrhoea.
NHS medical director Professor Stephen today urged parents who are worried about a child who is sick and not recovering to seek medical help.
