Father details 8-year-old son's hospitalization with rare illness amid coronavirus pandemic
New questions surround children's health after a rare illnesses has emerged amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A family shared their story after their seemingly healthy son became critically ill, hospitalized and took a turn for the worse due to a rare illness.
Jayden Hardowar, 8, is recovering in the hospital and off a ventilator after he presented with symptoms that were similar to Kawasaki disease.
The rare illness that doctors have said is possibly linked to coronavirus, has led to the hospitalization of children in at least six U.S. states.
The young boy had a spiked fever in late April and was advised to take Children's Tylenol, but days later as the fever subsided the young boy was still weak.
"He was doing fairly OK at home. We were confident. We weren't concerned, because we know that we've been practicing social distancing as a family," his father Roup Hardowar said.
But last week, his young son became critically ill. Their older son found Jayden gasping for air. He went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to a New York City hospital.
"Immediately my older boy, he got on the bed and he starts to pump the chest," their father recalled.
New York state's department of health reported at least 64 children in the state have been affected by what's being called pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome.
The symptoms include fever, rash, stomachache, eye irritation, swollen lymph nodes and tongue, which is similar to a rare but dangerous condition called Kawasaki Disease and causes the inflammation of blood vessels and can lead to heart problems.
"There's a standard treatment for Kawasaki that we've known for many years now and very effective. And so we're treating these children with that therapy," Dr. James Schneider told ABC News.
More doctors have reported Kawasaki-like cases in Los Angeles, Boston, Louisiana and Michigan.
The Hardowar family told ABC News they have only been able to check on their son this past week via video chat, but they expect him to come home sometime this weekend.
Jayden apparently tested negative for COVID-19, but positive for antibodies, which Dr. Schneider explained could mean he was asymptomatic.
"What we are seeing is that they have antibodies to corona, which means they had a previous infection with the coronavirus maybe two or three weeks ago," he said. "They have ben asymptomatic and never known about it and now we're seeing the body's reaction to that virus 17;20;46 and it causes the immune system to get hyperactive."
What to know about Coronavirus:
- How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained
- What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms
- Tracking the spread in the US and Worldwide: Coronavirus map
