NHS doctors have been warned to look out for a rare but dangerous reaction in children that may be linked to coronavirus infection. An urgent alert sent out to GPs said that intensive care departments in London and other parts of the UK have been treating severely sick children with unusual symptoms.

This includes “multi-system inflammation” with flu-like symptoms. Some, but not all, tested positive for coronavirus. It is unclear how many children have been diagnosed with the new syndrome, although the numbers will be low.

The alert, which was issued to GPs in North London by their clinical commissioning group, said there was “a growing concern” that a coronavirus-related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infection linked to these cases. These young patients of varying ages were extremely ill. They had similar features to toxic shock syndrome, which can include a high temperature, low blood pressure, a rash and difficulty breathing. Some also had gastrointestinal symptoms – tummy pain, vomiting or diarrhoea – and inflammation of the heart, as well as abnormal blood test results. Experts say these are the signs you can see when the body becomes overwhelmed as it tries to fight off an infection.(BBC)…[+]