Every day, we learn more about COVID-19. This latest side effect is rare but dangerous, doctors say. Via WKTV.com:

Doctors in Italy have become the latest to raise the alarm over a worrying spike in children getting sick with a rare but serious inflammatory syndrome they say is tied to the coronavirus pandemic.

A new study, published in the medical journal The Lancet on Wednesday, found a 30-fold rise in the number of cases of the syndrome in the Bergamo province of Italy shortly after the coronavirus pandemic spread to the region.

The findings of the Italian doctors are similar to the observations made in recent weeks by health officials in the United States. Doctors in the United States are investigating cases of the syndrome in at least 150 children, most of them in New York. At least 17 states and Washington, DC are checking into suspected cases, according to a CNN survey.

The syndrome, now frequently referred to as 'multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children,' resembles another childhood condition known as Kawasaki disease which typically affects children under the age of five. The disease causes inflammation in the walls of medium-sized arteries and can damage the heart.

While the new syndrome also involves inflammation, infectious disease experts say it is different from Kawasaki disease. Symptoms include persistent fever, rash, red eyes, inflammation and poor function in one or more organs.
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