Boy Dies In Westchester Of Coronavirus-Linked Syndrome

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — A Westchester County child has died from the mysterious inflammatory syndrome that may be linked to the new coronavirus. There have been 11 cases in Westchester, County Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler said Friday.

So far 73 children in New York have been diagnosed with Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome, similar to Kawasaki disease or toxic-shock condition, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his Friday briefing.

Parents need to get immediate medical attention if their child has symptoms, including persistent fever, abdominal pain, body rash, and swollen hands or feet, Amler said. Health officials are investigating whether it's a post-viral syndrome or related to COVID-19 in some other way.

County Executive George Latimer held a briefing Friday with local health officials including Michael Gewitz, the William Russell McCurdy physician-in-chief of Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.

Gewitz said the 11 children who had come to the hospital ranged in age from several months to teenagers. The symptoms can occur up to a month after exposure to the coronavirus. The children tested positive for COVID-19 and also for the antibodies, he said.

"While we have seen a cluster of cases ... this remains an infrequent possibility," Gewitz said.

Gewitz said the boy who died suffered serious neurological complications from the syndrome.

Cuomo said parents should be vigilant.

Parents who have had COVID-19 in their households and had children have either tested positive for the virus or showed more than one symptom should reach out to their family doctor or pediatrician, Amler said.

The state is requiring that hospitals must report any possible cases of this new syndrome that they find. Most children with this syndrome either had an active COVID-19 infection, state officials said, or tested positive for antibodies of the virus.

Links to the syndrome and COVID-19 were first reported in the United Kingdom and Italy.

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