6 CT Children Treated For Coronavirus-Related Illness

CONNECTICUT — There are five confirmed and one suspected Connecticut cases of a new inflammatory syndrome in children that is believed to be linked to the coronavirus.

Three children were being treated through Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday. Three children at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center are being treated for a similar syndrome; two of the cases there are confirmed to be the new illness.

“Unfortunately, this disease carries features of toxic shock syndrome and elements of Kawasaki Disease and strikes school-aged children,” said Clifford Bogue, physician-in-chief of YNHCH. “While these cases are exceptionally rare, given our proximity to New York where there have been a significant number reported, we have been watching their experience closely.”

Yale New Haven Health CEO Marna Borgstrom said at a Tuesday news conference that the three Yale patients are doing “reasonably well” and as more is learned about the illness, there will be better treatment options down the road.

Meanwhile, Connecticut’s overall coronavirus figures continue to move in a better direction. Another 568 positive cases out of 5,916 tests were announced, which makes for a three-day trend in the positive case rate being below 10 percent. Another 33 coronavirus deaths were announced and hospitalizations were down a net of 23 patients.

There have been 52 reported cases of the pediatric illness in New York City along with two deaths. An additional death was reported in another part of New York.

“It’s something we are very concerned about,” Lamont said, adding that it appears to be a rare condition that affects children from 3 months into their teenage years.

“We realize every week we don’t know everything about this virus,” Lamont said. “We maybe have six months of experience with it, but we don’t know some of the medium and longer-term effects.”

Not much is known about the illness and there have been a limited number of reports in recent days, mainly from New York, Boston and the United Kingdom, said Dr. Juan Salazar, physician-in-chief at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

So far the illness appears to be rare, but more cases may be identified as health systems look to gather more reports, Salazar said in a blog post. If left untreated, the illness could be serious as there is potential for coronary arteries and other blood vessels to become inflamed.

Treatment so far has included high-dose aspirin, antibiotics, steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy as well as supportive oxygen. More serious cases may involve the use of a ventilator.

The new illness in many ways resembles Kawasaki disease, which is a rare childhood illness. Both diseases involve inflammation in the body, but doctors are becoming increasingly sure that the new illness is not the same as Kawasaki, Salazar wrote.

Connecticut Children’s Medical Center suggests that parents call their child’s doctor or the Connecticut Children’s Pediatric COVID-19 hotline at 833-226-2362 immediately if they experience any of the following symptoms:

• High, prolonged fever: temperature of 101 degrees or more for more than three days
• Difficulty feeding (infants) or is too sick to drink fluids
• Severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting
• Cracked lips
• Reddish eyes (similar to pinkeye)
• Rash
• Swollen glands/lymph nodes
• Change in skin color (becoming pale, patchy and/or blue)
• Racing heart or chest pain
• Decreased amount or frequency of urine
• Lethargy, irritability or confusion