demand for live-out nannies set to increase Antibody tests ‘key to finding any ties to Kawasaki’

ANTIBODY tests will be crucial in finding the link between the symptoms of Kawasaki syndrome presenting in some children and Covid-19, an expert says.

While we are seeing increased numbers of the condition in a slightly older profile of children, which could possibly be linked to the pandemic, more research is needed, according to Dr Karina Butler. She is a UCD professor of clinical paediatrics and infectious disease specialist in Crumlin Children’s Hospital.

Antibody tests would show whether a person has already had coronavirus, as opposed to the swab tests being carried out now which only show whether they currently have it.

On Friday evening, HSE chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan spoke of seven cases of possible Kawasaki syndrome being investigated in Ireland.

It is an inflammatory condition in children the cause of which is unknown but is possibly brought on by a viral or bacterial infection in a small number of children, around 15 for every 100,000 in Ireland.

Both the WHO and the

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control alerted member states to the possible correlation between a rise in Kawasaki-like cases and the Covid-19 crisis. The symptoms being seen in these children are similar to Kawasaki syndrome, including a rash, swollen glands, dry cracked lips, red fingers or toes or red eyes.

Dr Siobhán Kennelly, the HSE national clinical adviser, told a briefing that the condition generally impacted very young children, under five.

However, she said adolescent girls could develop an associated syndrome called toxic shock, which can be fatal.

‘We think that this inflammatory illness associated with Covid is probably very rare,’ she said.

Typically we would see one or two cases of Kawasaki syndrome this time of year, so efforts are being made to decipher what is really going on. Dr Butler described it as ‘a learning curve’.

Speaking with the Irish Mail on Sunday, she said: ‘The tests are just being rolled out at the moment but we will be testing these children to see if Covid in the background could have triggered this.’