Coronavirus-linked rare disease kills 9-year-old in France

A nine-year-old boy died in Marseille last Friday from Kawasaki-like disease and tests have shown that he was infected with coronavirus, his doctors told French media on Friday.

A medical team from La Timone University Hospital in Marseille in southern France said he was the first victim of the disease in France and the second in Europe after the death of a boy in the United Kingdom.

"The child presented symptoms that resembled Kawasaki disease and his serology indicated that he had been in contact with the coronavirus without developing symptoms in the previous weeks," said Professor Fabrice Michel, head of the hospital's pediatric resuscitation service.

The child spent a week in intensive pediatric care before cardiac arrest and subsequent brain damage led to his death, said the doctor, adding that studies are underway on a possible association between coronavirus and Kawasaki disease.

Since March 1, a total of 135 Kawasaki-like coronavirus-linked cases have been recorded in France, according to the French health authorities.

Kawasaki disease is a rare inflammatory disease, which attacks mainly infants and small children. The symptoms include high fever, rashes, swollen glands, pink eyes and heart inflammation in serious cases.

Inflammation of blood vessels and cardiac damage are much more pronounced in cases suspected of being linked to COVID-19 compared with classic Kawasaki disease, France's public health agency said on Thursday.