Kids can develop severe complications from COVID-19 in rare cases
Although severe illness with COVID-19 remains rare among children, they are not immune from life-threatening complications. And an emerging inflammatory syndrome may also be connected to the coronavirus. New York has 93 children with the syndrome, called pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome, which appears to be related to having had COVID-19. Three children have died, and two more deaths are being investigated, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a news conference May 10. Physicians are also reporting children with the syndrome — which occurs four to six weeks after an infection — in a few other states as well as some European countries. Symptoms of the inflammatory illness include a persistent high fever, low blood pressure and abdominal pain. The illness can look similar to other inflammatory conditions in children, including toxic shock syndromes and Kawasaki disease, which causes inflammation in the blood vessels. Overall, though, severe illness has been less frequent in children than adults with COVID-19, researchers say. A study that looked at 46 North American...