WTEN: Some Children with COVID-19 Showing Symptoms Similar to Kawasaki Disease

WTEN/News 10 interviewed Alan Sanders, M.D., chief medical officer for SPHP Acute Care, for its story on a new pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, similar to Kawasaki disease, likely linked to COVID-19.

From the story:

Kawasaki Disease is rare and is not known to be an infectious disorder. Dr. Alan Sanders who works for St. Peter’s Health Partners said it is an inflammatory condition that impacts multiple parts of the body.

“Young children get swollen lymph nodes often times in their neck,” explained Dr. Sanders. “They have redness in their eyes, the inside of their mouth can get inflamed and start to peel and so can their lips, but the real tragic part of Kawasaki’s for kids is usually a cardiac manifestation where the muscle of the heart itself can get inflamed, and the blood vessels that are called coronary arteries that deliver blood to the heart to beat each beat, those arteries can inflame and get small little aneurisms on them.”

Some children diagnosed with COVID-19 downstate are experiencing symptoms similar to those of Kawasaki’s. Hospitals in the Capital Region that are affiliated with St. Peter’s Health Partners have not had any cases like this.

Click here to watch WTEN’s report.