Baby dies of coronavirus-linked Kawasaki disease aged eight months becoming Britain's youngest known victim of rare childhood syndrome
A baby has died of the coronavirus-linked Kawasaki disease aged eight months, becoming Britain's youngest known victim of the rare childhood syndrome.
Alexander Parsons, who had no underlying health conditions, passed away aged eight months after being admitted to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital on April 6 and suffering a ruptured aneurysm.
He was diagnosed with Kawaski disease, which causes blood vessels throughout the body to swell, after developing a 'pinprick' rash, fever and swollen lymph nodes.
Alexander Parsons, pictured, who had no underlying health conditions, passed away aged eight months after being admitted to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital on April 6
Alex pictured with his mother Kathryn Rowlands and father Jon. He was diagnosed with Kawaski disease after developing a 'pinprick' rash, fever and swollen lymph nodes
The baby boy died in the arms of his mother, Kathryn Rowlands, 29, who said she will 'never be whole again'.
She told the Mirror: 'I can't believe I carried him for longer than he was alive. I will never be whole again.
'He was my greatest achievement. He could have gone on to do whatever he wanted with his life. Now he'll only ever be eight months old.'
Praising the medical staff who tried to save Alex, she added: 'The doctors and nurses who fought to save Alex were incredible – but if they'd known more about the Covid-Kawasaki link, they possibly could have done more.'
The illness, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), was found by scientists to be caused by coronavirus last month.
The CDC previously said: 'Healthcare providers who have cared or are caring for patients younger than 21 years of age meeting MIS-C criteria should report suspected cases to their local, state, or territorial health department.'
The condition had previously been referred to as Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PMIS) by the state of New York in the United States where there have been more than a hundred reported cases, including at least three deaths.
Alex, who is thought to be Britain's youngest victim of the disease, pictured. The illness was found by scientists to be caused by coronavirus last month
Treatment involves injecting antibodies as well as administering steroids and aspirin in case patients experienced a sudden loss of blood pressure, called 'shock.'
Sunil Sood, a pediatrician at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York, said that cases mainly seemed to emerge four to six weeks after a child had been infected and had already developed antibodies.
'They had the virus, the body fought it off earlier. But now there's this delayed exaggerated immune response,' he said.
Doctors should be on the lookout for the condition and report suspected cases to local or state health departments. It should be suspected in all deaths in children who had evidence of Covid-19 infection, the CDC said.
