The first reports were made in late April in England. In the context of the Covid-19 epidemic, doctors warned of the hospitalization of children with unusual forms of Kawasaki disease, a rare disease that can affect the coronary arteries in particular. Since then, several European countries have reported on it, including France, which is said to count around thirty cases.
In Lorraine, four cases are reported. At Nancy CHRU, which has the only pediatric resuscitation in Lorraine, a child with Kawasaki disease and two other young patients with an atypical and incomplete form of this pathology were taken care of, details Pr Cyril Schweitzer, head of the child-neonatology department. Two other cases of atypical Kawasaki in Lorraine did not require transfer to intensive care.
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Ten cases per year
Kawasaki’s disease, the origin of which is unknown, “is linked to an inflammatory reaction of the vessels, a kind of vasculitis very specific to children”, explains Pr Cyril Schweitzer. “It usually occurs a month after a viral infection,” says the doctor, and manifests as fever, rash, lymph nodes, conjunctivitis, and inflammation of the lips. A disease that doctors are well aware of. The Nancy establishment treats about ten cases per year on average. With a good prognosis, the disease however requires cardiological monitoring when the coronaries have been affected.
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Children around ten years old
The Covid epidemic suggests a link with these atypical forms of Kawasaki disease: “They occur a month after the peak of the epidemic in Lorraine,” says Pr Schweitzer. “There is evidence in the scientific literature that other coronaviruses cause illnesses close to Kawasaki disease,” he said. On the other hand, in the children concerned, the Covid-19 is proven or suspected. If Kawasaki disease affects children under the age of 5, atypical forms, on the other hand, concern young patients around the age of ten.
Severe forms of Covid remain rare in children. And on the eve of the start of the new school year, learned pediatric societies have not changed their rhetoric, emphasizes the doctor: “Going back to school is important for the overall development of the child”.
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