Cases of children suffering from rare disease alarm experts.

Byline: Asif Chaudhry

LAHORE -- Cases of an ailment like Kawasaki Disease (KD), which is believed to be a post-infection complication among the children infected with Covid-19 have started surfacing in various parts of the country, causing an alarm among experts.

The Institute of Child Health/Children Hospital Lahore has received three such cases while some others have been reported in Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. These cases have alarmed 'unprepared' paediatric experts all over the country.

Also known as Kawasaki syndrome, KD is an acute febrile illness of unknown etiology that primarily affects children under five years of age. The disease was first discovered in Japan by Tomisaku Kawasaki in 1967. The first cases outside of Japan were reported in Hawaii in 1976.

The experts say the clinical signs of the KD include fever, rashes, swelling of the hands and feet, irritation and redness of the white portion of the eyes, swollen lymph glands in the neck, and irritation and inflammation of the mouth, lips, and throat.

'It is a very worrying for us that three children have been admitted to the Children's Hospital Lahore with KD-like syndrome and other such cases are also being reported from Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Karachi', the hospital Dean Prof Dr Masood Sadiq told Dawn on Tuesday.

The ICH Lahore is the biggest facility in the public sector in Pakistan for treatment of minors suffering from rare and complicated diseases.

He said an outbreak of Kawasaki-like disease might occur in countries like Pakistan which had been affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, commonly called coronavirus 2 responsible forCOVID-19.

He said that paediatrics have been alerted all over the country to deal this new emergency to secure lives of children.

'The paediatrics and cardiologists should be aware of this new disease which resembles KD but has an acute severe course and is most likely related to SARS-CoV-2 infection', Prof Sadiq said.

He said that an early diagnosis, appropriate referral and management could lead to favorable outcome, using established therapies.

His statement came after first death of a child in Punjab (at Children's Hospital Lahore) caused by Covid-19.

He said Covid-19 caused by coronavirus 2 had also been reported among children, however, there were relatively fewer such cases as compared to incidence of the disease among adults.

'The children [as per international medical criterion] below 19 years of age constitute 7.28 per cent (12,858...