There are 38 children in New York City suffering from an inflammatory illness that is possibly related to COVID-19, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at his daily press briefing on Sunday.
The condition, called Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome by health officials, has similar symptoms to Kawasaki disease.
There are 9 additional cases in New York City that are pending and 1 death.
Parents of more than 1 million children have been alerted, de Blasio said. The state’s health department issued an advisory to health care providers on Wednesday.
“Thankfully most children with COVID-19 only experience mild symptoms, but in some, a dangerous inflammatory syndrome can develop,” Dr. Howard Zucker, commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, said in a statement last week.
“In the United Kingdom, a possible link has also been reported between pediatric COVID-19 and serious inflammatory disease,” New York health officials said. “The inflammatory syndrome has features which overlap with Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome and may occur days to weeks after acute COVID-19 illness. It can include persistent fever, abdominal symptoms, rash, and even cardiovascular symptoms requiring intensive care.”
Meanwhile, de Blasio said he’s asked the federal government to provide 39,000 doses of the experimental drug, remdesivir. On May 1, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of remdesivir to treat COVID-19.
As of now, New York only has 4,000 doses, the mayor said.
