New York boy, 5, dies from 'what appears to be' rare inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus, as 73 children are now hospitalized with the condition
A five-year-old boy has become the first child in New York to 'appear to die' from a rare inflammatory condition believed to be linked to the novel coronavirus.
Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters at a Friday press briefing that the boy passed away in New York City on Thursday night.
Officials at Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital, where the child - who had tested positive for the virus - was being treated, confirmed the death but didn't release any other information.
Cuomo said health authorities are investigating 73 similar cases reported across New York, where children have exhibited symptoms to Kawasaki disease or toxic shock-like syndrome.
The rising number of cases is challenging previous beliefs that children are less susceptible to complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
A five-year-old boy from New York died on Thursday at Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital from what appears to be a rare, inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus (file image)
Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference on Friday (pictured) that parents can linger 'tale solace' in believing their children won't be affected
'While rare, we are seeing some cases where children affected with the COVID virus can become ill with symptoms similar to the Kawasaki disease or toxic shock-like syndrome that literally causes inflammation in their blood vessels,' Cuomo said.
'So this is every parent's nightmare, right? That your child may actually be affected by this virus?'
On Wednesday, the New York State Department of Health issued an alert, calling on hospitals to immediately report any cases to the department. Efforts are underway to collect information on the disorder, dubbed 'Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome Potentially Associated with COVID-19.'
Cases of rare, life-threatening inflammatory illnesses in children associated with exposure to COVID-19 were first reported in Britain, Italy and Spain.
However, doctors across the US - such as in California, New York and New Jersey - are starting to report clusters of kids with the disorder, which can attack multiple organs, impair heart function and weaken heart arteries.
According to New York's health department, the majority of kids with the syndrome for either COVID-19 or COVID-19 antibodies.
Cuomo said the news was evidence that parents can no longer 'take solace' in the knowledge that their children are safe from the virus.
'This would be really painful news and would open up an entirely different chapter because I can't tell you how many people I spoke to who took peace and solace in the fact that children were not getting infected,' Cuomo said.
'We thought that children might be vehicles of transmission, but we didn't think children would suffer from it.'
In a separate case, physicians in Westchester County, north of New York City, reported on Friday the death of a child who had contracted the virus.
According to Dr Michael Gewitz, of Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in Valhalla, where the child was being treated, he or she suffered neurological complications from the syndrome. Officials are waiting to see if underlying conditions played a role in the child's death.
Health authorities are investigating 73 similar cases reported across New York. The disorder can be fatal, attacking multiple organs, impairing heart function and weakening arteries. Pictured: Jayden Hardowar, eight, of New York (left), and Juliet Daly, 12, of Louisiana (right), both landed in the hospital after experiencing the syndrome
Hospitals in New York are now reporting any cases to the state's health department and the CDC is compiling a patient registry. Pictured: A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai in New York, April 1
This emerging syndrome, which may occur days to weeks after a COVID-19 illness, reflects the surprising ways that this entirely new coronavirus infects and sickens its human hosts.
Scientists are still trying to determine whether the syndrome is linked with the new coronavirus as not all children have tested positive for the virus.
The syndrome shares symptoms with toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, which is associated with fever, skin rashes, swelling of glands, and, in the most severe cases, inflammation of arteries of the heart.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and other groups to gather data to better understand and characterize the syndrome, according to an emailed statement.
The aim is to develop a case definition that would allow the CDC to track the cases and advise doctors on how to care for these patients.
Not every child that has developed the condition has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, but enough have for doctors to believe the conditions are linked.
For most children, COVID-19 is mild, and children are far less likely to be hospitalized with the disease than adults, according to the CDC.
'Children seem to laugh off COVID-19 most of the time,' said Dr Jane Newburger, a pediatric cardiologist at Harvard's Boston Children's Hospital.
'But rarely, a child will develop this hyper-inflammatory state.'
Newburger said there appears to be a spectrum of illnesses, with some children coming in 'very sick, even in shock.' Most have a fever and impaired function in one or more organs.
Some children get sick very fast and need to be in a pediatric intensive care unit, while others can be cared for in a regular hospital ward, she said.
New York boy, 5, dies from 'what appears to be' rare inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus, as 73 children are now hospitalized with the condition
![New York boy, 5, dies from 'what appears to be' rare inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus, as 73 children are now hospitalized with the condition]()
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May 09, 2020
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