Because of corona virus? Three children die of mysterious shock syndrome in New York 

Coronavirus drama around children: there is growing evidence that the virus is causing mysterious symptoms in children. 

• The corona virus * has turned everyday life upside down.
• Children in particular are particularly likely to suffer from the protective measures *, experts suspect.
• Her role in virus distribution has not yet been clarified, says virologist Christian Drosten * in the NDR podcast.
• Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus. You can also see the current number of cases in Germany as a map * and the Corona News from Germany. The most important thing about the topic is also available on our brand new Facebook page Corona News.

Update from May 10: In the USA, three children are said to have one

Shock syndrome, which has been linked to the coronavirus. The New York Times reports  . Many other children are said to be also ill. 

According to the report, the three children died of a toxic shock inflammation syndrome that affects the bloodstream and heart. A connection with the Sars-CoV-2 infection is apparently suspected. The children were tested positive for an infection, but did not show the typical symptoms of Covid 19 symptoms. 

3 young children have died in New York of a mysterious, toxic-shock inflammation syndrome with links to the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday, calling it “truly disturbing" https://t.co/I8BuHvVDYj pic.twitter.com/id4UltHuI8

Because of corona virus? Doctors discover mysterious symptoms in children - New York reports dozens of cases

Update of May 8:  Children usually get less severe coronary disease - but they have about the same viral load as adults and are therefore probably equally contagious. This is how scientists summarize the findings to date. A thesis on the less severe course of diseases in children indicates their differently oriented immune system, said Ulrike Protzer, director of the Institute of Virology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and at the Helmholtz Zentrum München on Friday in an online press conference.

The child's immune system has not yet dealt with many pathogens and must therefore form effective antibodies on a broad basis, said Protzer. There are also a number of other infectious diseases that were less dramatic in childhood than in adults, such as the Epstein-Barr virus.

Philipp Henneke from the Clinic for General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine of the University Medical Center Freiburg said that a connection with Kawasaki syndrome, an inflammatory disease of the blood vessels mostly in young children , has not been proven about reports of isolated severe Covid-19 diseases in children . "We can not say anything yet." In Germany there are about 200 known Kawasaki cases a year, but these are not demonstrably "corona-induced".

Skeptics and critics stand out with their opinions during the Corona crisis. Was the lockdown necessary in this form? Some critics praise the Swedish special way. However, there are also signs of severe economic damage there. And the question remains: are the two countries comparable at all?

Corona virus? Doctors discover mysterious symptoms in children - New York reports dozens of cases

Update from May 7th, 9:50 pm:  Several children in Europe have been diagnosed with unusually serious illnesses that may be related to the coronavirus. After the first cases became known in the USA (see last update), a health agency in the state of New York has now announced an increase in these diseases. 

According to the authority are 64 children in the State of symptoms such as inflamed blood vessels, fever and rash show. Also, other states reported similar cases. The diseases had previously been noticed in Spain, Italy, Great Britain, Switzerland and Germany. A direct connection to the corona virus has not yet been conclusively clarified.

The symptoms are said to resemble Kawasaki syndrome  , which mainly affects young children. So far, however, doctors still don't know what triggers it. The World Health Organization (WHO) and medical associations want to avoid panic and warn parents because the majority of children who are infected with the corona virus have a mild disease.

Corovirus: novel disease in children reminiscent of Kawasaki syndrome

Update from May 7: While the corona virus is spreading throughout the world, experts do not yet seem to agree on the risk of infection for children. After several European countries have reported illnesses in children reminiscent of "Kawasaki syndrome" in the past few weeks  , New York is now also seeing the first cases of the illness. 

Fever, complaints in the digestive tract and inflammation of the vessels: with these symptoms, children have already been hospitalized in several European countries, including Germany. Although a coronavirus test was not positive in all affected children, experts and doctors suspect a connection between the two diseases . 

Now New York is also reporting cases of “Kawasaki syndrome” -like illness for the first time. As the American authorities explain on Wednesday, a total of 15 children between the ages of two and 15 are affected. Many of them have a fever and high levels of inflammation. Some of them even needed artificial respiration. Coronavirus is said to have been detected in four of them , and antibodies in the blood in six of the children are said to have indicated that the infection had passed. 

As the American authorities report, the 15 children are said to have suffered from a fever. Half of them are said to have developed a rash, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. 

However, according to American media, including the New York Times, many more children in New York City and Long Island are said to be affected by the mysterious symptoms. According to this, around 50 children were registered. The New York City Health Department says there could be many more cases of affected children. 

Corovirus: what role do children play? Heinsberg study with results

Update of May 5: The role of children in the corona pandemic is increasingly becoming the focus of public discussion. “The information that we have so far indicates that children are not virus hurlers and that they transmit the virus less to adults, but rather that adults carry this (the coronavirus, ed.) Into the families “Explained the infectious disease specialist Prof. Johannes Hübner from the children's clinic of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich on the ARD extra program. 

A researcher involved in the so-called Heinsberg study also commented. "We see a trend in our study: That fewer children are infected than older people, " reported Hendrik Streeck, virologist at the University Hospital in Bonn. A Swedish scientist was also interviewed by the ARD on the role of children in the course of the coronavirus pandemic. State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said on the show that children could infect others, "but only very few" . He also reported on observations from Scandinavia . There is no evidence of an accumulation of corona cases in schools . Are children throwing viruses or not? *

Coronavirus and children: Unusual symptoms discovered in young Covid 19 patients

Update of May 1:   This news made headlines a few days ago: several European countries reported  illnesses in children that are reminiscent of the "Kawasaki syndrome" - fever, complaints in the digestive tract and inflammation of vessels. Although a coronavirus test was not positive in all affected children, many doctors suspected a connection between the two diseases. 

Corresponding reports are now also available in Germany: According to Reinhard Berner from the University Hospital Dresden, at least two cases were reported in Germany. However, it is still unclear whether there is a connection with a coronavirus infection, he said to the German Press Agency. "It is quite conceivable," he added. 

By the way: There is also new knowledge at the beginning of the Corona epidemic in France. The first corona case may have occurred there at the end of December, about four weeks earlier than previously thought.

Coronavirus: Children from Covid-19 can also become seriously ill, cases from Great Britain show

At the University Clinic in Geneva, three children have been treated with such severe inflammation since the onset of the corona epidemic. Cases have also been reported from Italy and Spain . In the UK , the National Health Service (NHS) has alerted hospitals to around two dozen seriously ill children. Many, but not all, had been tested positive for the new Sars-CoV-2 virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already addressed the issue, as Covid 19 Commissioner Maria van Kerkhove said on Wednesday evening. "We know that children tend to have less severe illnesses, but some develop serious illnesses and some have died," she said. "We have called on our global medical network to be vigilant."

WHO emergency coordinator Michael Ryan added: "This shows that the virus attacks not only the lungs, but also other tissues." However, Ryan reassured worried parents: "The vast majority of children who contract the virus have a mild one Infection and recover completely. "

Corona virus in Germany - now children at risk too? 

April 30 update : can the corona virus also be dangerous for children? So far, experts have assumed that the virus is less dangerous in children than in adults. But now researchers seem to be around the virologist Drostento have gained new knowledge. 

As the team now explains, children in the current situation are just as contagious as adults. The number of viruses that can be detected in the respiratory tract does not differ in different age groups, researchers led by virologist Christian Drosten from the Berlin Charité report in a previously published study that has not yet been checked by independent experts. 

For this reason, the researchers are warning against the unrestricted opening of schools and kindergartens in Germany based on their results . The measures to contain the pandemic have had an effect in many countries, the researchers write . As contact restrictions are relaxed, there is increasing discussion about the extent to which the closure of schools and kindergartens has contributed to this success - and how reopening could affect the spread of the virus. 

So far it is unclear to what extent children pass the virus on to others. It is difficult to investigate this question, precisely because schools were closed early and because the virus was passed on mainly by adult travelers, especially in the initial phase of the epidemic. 

The team around Drosten had now determined the amount of Sars-CoV-2 viruses in samples from 3712 infected people, which were examined in a Berlin test center between January and April 26th. They found no difference in viral load between different age groups. When assessing the risk of infection in schools and kindergartens, the same assumptions that apply to adults should be used, the researchers write.

Doctors discover mysterious symptoms in children - coronavirus-related?

First report from April 29: Munich - Your everyday life was completely turned upside down overnight and the question of “why” is often difficult to answer for them - the children are not only the most vulnerable group of people in pandemic times - they are also questions for their health are unclear.

But in a time when the slowly back to the opening of schools and day care centers is thought their children allow in more and more parents, at least occasionally meet friends, suddenly burst news from G roßbritannien, Spain, France and Switzerland : you see more and more diseases in children that remind of the "Kawasaki syndrome" - fever, complaints in the digestive tract and inflammation of the vessels. According to AFP, the French and British health ministers, for example, were alarmed. 

But a lot is open: the reports come from several countries in parallel, but the extent (in Paris about 15 children in clinics have become noticeable) cannot be said, nor can it be said about the connection with the coronavirus . Because not all affected children have a positive coronavirus test.

Coronavirus: No findings on Kawasaki syndrome in children in Germany

In an interview with merkur.de, Thomas Fischbach, President of the Federal Association of Pediatricians in Germany, reports that no increase in Kawasaki syndrome has been noticed in Germany - not even in a clinic at LMU Munich, where children with Covid-19 would be treated. 

The good news: There are treatment options for Kawasaki syndrome. Early detection is therefore crucial. However, since there is still very little expertise in general, it is necessary to keep a close eye on this phenomenon. "But there is no need to panic," said Fischbach.

Coronavirus and children: Drosten - open daycare centers under certain conditions

"We have few studies from China, but the children rarely have symptoms * " - this is the scientific basis for starting the pandemic situation in Germany, according to Christian Drosten in the NDR podcast.

"Studies have already shown that the rate at which children become infected is exactly the same as for all age groups." But one question has not yet been answered - how infectious are children, that is, do they also give the virus further ? 

A work from the Netherlands would suggest that children rarely pass on an infection. But just like with other questions, data is lacking. This could change due to ongoing studies, increased capacities in laboratories and, last but not least, the opening of daycare centers.

The corona virus also affects children. Now puzzling symptoms have been discovered. (Icon image)

© dpa / Ariana Cubillos

He can imagine opening day-care centers and schools under different conditions: For example, that adults with children in childcare would immediately go to the doctor for symptoms and would strictly avoid contact with other, older people.

Corona virus and children: worries about children's situation

The Vice President of the Professional Association of Pediatricians (BVKJ) , Sigrid Peter, warns: "We have to fear that children and adolescents are often alone with their worries and needs." After the disappearance of solid structures and the significantly more difficult to The almost impossible work of social educators, about which the SZ reported, suggests that violence against children is currently increasing unhindered, that the long-term consequences in families of all social classes are unforeseeable.

The truth is: we don't know. The decline in the numbers is so high that it can not only be explained by the absence of daycare and school. We will only know the exact details after the pandemic. https://t.co/UqnBtWQdJe

"We are currently intervening deeply in the fundamental rights of children: we isolate them from their playmates. We limit their legal right to education. And we prevent them from exercising enough, ”says Heinz Hilgers, President of the German Child Protection Association (DKSB). And he makes it clear: “These are also forms of violence. "

* Merkur.de is part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network.

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List of rubric lists: © dpa / Marta Fernández Jara