SYMPTOM CHECKER Up to 100 kids a week admitted to hospital with Kawasaki-like Covid disease

SOURCE: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13956828/100-kids-week-hospital-kawasaki-like-disease-strikes-covid/

Up to 100 kids a week are being admitted to hospital with a Kawasaki-like disease that strikes just weeks after Covid-19.

The condition, also known as paediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome (PIMS), has caused alarm and confusion among parents and doctors alike.

At the start of the pandemic children were being admitted to hospital with the condition, which doctors at first thought was Kawasaki disease - a condition which mainly affects babies and toddlers.

An unpublished report seen by The Guardian has revealed that four out of five children getting PIMS after contracting Covid-19 were previously healthy.

The main signs of PIMS include a high temperature, a rash and tummy pains.

The report stated that around one in 5,000 children get the condition after contracting Covid - regardless of whether or not they had symptoms.

The three main symptoms of Covid-19 are a new persistent cough, a high temperature and a loss of taste and smell. If you have any of these symptoms then you should get a test and isolate immediately.

Data also presented at the webinar showed that a small number of kids who had PIMS suffered with confusion, lethargy and disorientation.

It was highlighted that some children started to behave in a “strange way” and some had a stroke.

Out of 75 children, eight were found to have suffered heart problems.

Modelling by doctors predicts that cases will peak next Monday before they start to decline.

Dr Whitakker added that parents should not be alarmed by the surge in hospitalisations.

She said PIMS would not be a reason to keep schools from opening and added that it would not be a reason to close playgrounds.