Critically ill children have been ending up in intensive care units with shock-like symptoms in recent weeks, adding yet another mysterious layer to the coronavirus pandemic.
New York health officials began issuing alerts on May 4, describing young patients, ages 2-15, with inflammation in multiple organ systems and features of Kawasaki disease, a childhood illness of unclear origin. They raised the count to 64 suspected cases on May 6.
A few days earlier, officials in the United Kingdom notified doctors of similar cases there, also describing them as having features similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome. Several of the children had tested positive for COVID-19.