BOTH ARE EXPECTED TO SURVIVE.
STILL NO WORD YET ON THE CAUSE.
CONCERNS ABOUT THE
CORONAVIRUS CONTINUE WORLDWIDE.
AND NOW THERE ARE WORRIES ABOUT
A NEW COVID-19-RELATED ILLNESS
THAT'S POPPING UP.
DR. MAX GOMEZ HAS MORE IN
TONIGHT'S MAX MINUTE.
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
CONTINUES TO BE A TERRIFYING
INFECTIOUS DISEASE LEADING TO
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DEATHS
WORLDWIDE.
FOR THE MOST PART, COVID-19 HAS
BEEN MOSTLY IN ELDERLY ADULTS
AND THOSE WITH COMORBIDITIES
SUCH AS OBESITY, DIABETES, AND
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE.
NOW THERE'S AN UNUSUAL DISEASE
ASSOCIATED WITH THE SARS COV
VIRUS.
IT RESEMBLES KAWASAKI SYNDROME.
RESEARCHERS IN NORTHEAST ITALY,
ONE OF THE HEAVIEST HIT COVID
AREAS, REPORT AN INCIDENCE OF
THIS KAWASAKI DISEASE THAT IS 30
TIMES GREATER THAN SEEN IN THE
PREVIOUS FIVE YEARS.
THE CHILDREN MOST STRICKEN TEND
TO BE SOMEWHAT OLDER.
AVERAGE AGE, 7 1/2, AND HAD MORE
SIGNS OF GASTROINTESTINAL AND
CARDIAC INVOLVEMENT.
THE THEORY IS THAT THIS VIRUS OR
A CLOSELY RELATED CORONAVIRUS
TRIGGERED A POWERFUL
OVERREACTION BY THE IMMUNE
SYSTEM THAT LED TO A RUNAWAY
INFLAMMATION.
THAT'S WHY THE ITALIAN DOCTORS
TREATED THE CHILDREN WITH
STEROIDS, MOSTLY SUCCESSFULLY.
THE ITALIAN DOCTORS STRESS THIS
KAWASAKI-LIKE SYNDROME IS RARE,
AFFECTING NO MORE THAN ONE IN A
THOUSAND CHILDREN EXPOSED TO THE
CORONAVIRUS.
BUT THEY DID ADVISE THAT DOCTORS
BE ALERT FOR SIGNS OF THIS
