Chennai, May 21: While India continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kawasaki syndrome, an hyper-inflammatory mysterious condition, is likely to emerge as a serious health issue in the country. The syndrome was so far reported in western countries, but recently an eight-year-old boy from Tamil Nadu was reported to be suffering from the acute illness. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the young boy became India’s first case of the hyper-inflammatory syndrome that is associated with coronavirus or COVID-19. The cause of the infection is unknown and is usually seen in Asia.

The HT report further informed that the child, who had tested positive for COVID-19, was in a critical condition  and was rushed to Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital in Chennai. He was admitted into the intensive care unit (ICU) due to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, which caused inflammation of blood vessels. The boy continued to be in ICU and recovered completely after two weeks, says the paper. Kawasaki Disease is Mysteriously Getting Many Children Sick in the UK and US, Could it Be Linked to The Novel Coronavirus?

Kawasaki symptoms include persistent high fever, rash, red cracked lips, red tongue, swollen eyes, hands and feet, and enlarged lymph nodes in the neck.  The illness reportedly turned a child's immune system against its blood vessels. Earlier this week, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children may be related to COVID-19. New York to Investigate over 85 Cases of Children with Rare Inflammatory Condition Having Symptoms like Kawasaki Disease and Toxic Shock Syndrome; Know More About its Link to COVID-19.

According to an HT report, the paper titled, “Hyper-inflammatory syndrome in a child with Covid-19 treated successfully with intravenous immunoglobulin and tocilizumab”, said that the initial differential diagnoses were pneumonia with septic shock, COVID-19 penumonitis, Kawasaki Disease and Toxic Shock Syndrome.

The disease becomes life-threatening as it affects many important organs of the body at the same time. Person suffering from Kawasaki syndrome develops swelling of the body including the vital organs and causes  inflammation in the entire body which leads to multiorgan failure and shock.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 21, 2020 05:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).