Mystery illness in children may be linked to COVID-19

MONTREAL - It began in Europe about two months ago, has spread to cities along the U.S. east coast and is now being reported in Montreal: clusters of a rare and mysterious illness in children that may be linked to COVID-19.

The latest alert comes from New York City’s health department, which, on Monday, reported 15 cases of children ages two to 15 arriving in city hospitals with “multi-system inflammatory syndrome.”

The symptoms vary depending on the affected organ system, but include a persistent fever, rash, abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhea. Five children required mechanical ventilation, though no deaths have been reported.

When noses were swabbed to check for active COVID-19 infections, four children tested positive, and 10 negative. One was initially “indeterminate” and then negative. However, when their blood was sampled, six of the “negatives” had antibodies to the virus, suggesting they had been exposed some time in the past.

The NYC bulletin, which follows a similar alert issued by British health officials, comes as Quebec prepares to reopen elementary schools and daycares starting May 11 outside Montreal, with the city scheduled to follow one week later. Ontario has said schools will remain shuttered until at least the end of May. In B.C., “education as we know it” likely won’t return until September, Premier John Horgan has said, while in Alberta, schools “as a general rule” will remain closed for the balance of the academic year.