An unwanted link

There has been much recent talk about the possibility of Covid-19 infecting young infants to produce a rare disease. The evidence is slowly accumulating, and is certainly supported by some circumstantial evidence. Kawasaki disease mainly affects children under 5 years of age. It is a rare disease, and results in a fever and swollen lymph glands, especially in the neck. It is a form of vasculitis with blood vessels becoming inflamed throughout the body. The cause is unknown, but may be due to an infection triggering an autoimmune response.

Little is still known about CV-19, but recent studies at the Royal Brompton Hospital suggest that it too is linked to a vascular condition, with the formation of microclots in the lungs and other organs. The most recent treatment recommendations are to give a blood-thinning drug. It is therefore all too plausible that CV-19 may cause a rare but devastating illness in infants. For some reason yet unknown, this disease is uniting young and old in the blanket of unexpected death.