A teacher has shared a photo of his five-year-old daughter fighting for her life in hospital with Kawasaki disease just five weeks after s...
A teacher has shared a photo of his five-year-old daughter fighting for her life in hospital with Kawasaki disease just five weeks after she beat coronavirus.
Piers Roberts, from Wakefield, Yorkshire, said his daughter Scarlett's battle with the diseases was a warning to the government against reopening schools, after Boris Johnson announced some would be reopened from June 1.
Mr Roberts said his family have been left 'broken' after Scarlett suddenly fell ill and contracted Kawasaki disease, with the schoolgirl given just a 20 per cent chance of survival.
He added that Scarlett - known to the family as 'Moo' - caught coronavirus in school before the lockdown and he now warns that reopening schools would turn them into 'deaths camps' for children.
However, the World Health Organisation's chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan insisted today that there was still no clear link between coronavirus and the rare disease.
Piers Roberts, from Wakefield, Yorkshire, revealed his daughter Scarlett, five (pictured), is in hospital with Kawasaki disease after she beat coronavirus
Mr Roberts, a music teacher, spoke on ITV's Good Morning Britain today about his daughter's illness. He previously warned opening schools would turn them into 'death camps'
The World Health Organisation's chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan insisted today that there was still no clear link between coronavirus and the rare disease
Symptoms of Kawasaki disease include swollen blood vessels, fever, rash, red eyes, dry or cracked lips or mouth, redness in the palms and on the soles of the feet, and swollen glands.
Scarlett was 'fit and well' for six weeks before suddenly suffering multi organ failure and being rushed unto hospital, her father added.
Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain today, he said: 'We understand that it's a link to the coronavirus we're not sure what that is fully, we hope with all our minds that its a rare one. In order to raise some awareness and improve the trust we need to know if this is a complication that's maybe more prevalent then we're told at the moment.
'It's the worst situation I've been put in, my pain pails in comparison to her mother's whose at her bedside.
'We need trust, these situations might be a rare complication, but it doesn't help the trust of parents putting kids back in schools it doesn't help teachers.
'That trust needs to be there, if it's a rare complication that's good but we must stay informed so other people do not have to go through this torturous time.'
Scarlett's devastated mother Naomi has posted updates about her battle with the illness on Facebook.
Last week, she wrote: 'I can't update you all individually so I can only do it here. Scarlett has Paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome related to covid 19. We think she had it a week before school closed.
'She's a pH of seven she's being incubated so they can put a central line in. I can't respond to all the calls but I appreciate that. She's in very good hands.
'We think she got covid pre-lockdown when testing wasn't available.'
However, in a more upbeat post, she wrote on Sunday evening: 'Moo has her lines in and is hopefully doing great thanks to the absolutely amazing care she has received.
'I have never been more grateful than to these nurses, doctors and all the NHS professionals who've helped her. They are amazing. The porters cheering her up were wonderful.
'I can't respond to all of your messages (hence the updates) but thank you for your kind words.
'I know very little of this disease other than what my daughter has been through. I am just grateful there a people far cleverer than me who have helped her and will continue to in time to come.
'They have also helped me cope while having to be alone and have shown more compassion than I thought possible)
Alexander Parsons, pictured, who had no underlying health conditions, passed away aged eight months after being admitted to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital on April 6
Alex pictured with his mother Kathryn Rowlands and father Jon. He was diagnosed with Kawaski disease after developing a 'pinprick' rash, fever and swollen lymph nodes
'Nothing is good enough to say about what they are doing. I am just glad for others that it is very rare as far as we know and that the NHS is amazing.
Earlier, Mr Roberts' aunt June shared a heartbreaking picture of the five-year-old hooked up to a ventilator.
In a series of tweets, June said: 'This is my five-year-old great niece. She was fit and healthy until a mild bout of Covid-19 five weeks ago from which she appeared to recover.
'She is now in ICU with a Kawasaki inflammatory response. She is off the ventilator but has developed heart problems.'
However, despite cases of children dying with the rare disease, WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan insisted today that there was still no clear link with coronavirus.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, she said: 'Very recently there have been some reports of children getting admitted with a strange syndrome, something that looks like sepsis, something that looks like a disease called Kawasaki disease, which causes inflammation in the blood vessels.
'Now, it's not very clear what the links are between Covid-19 and this syndrome. There are some children who tested positive for the virus and some who haven't.
'The WHO has discussed this with a group of international paediatricians about how to approach this, and the need to collect more data. We put out a note two days ago, which requests doctors to provide information in a standardised format so that we can quickly learn as much as possible about the syndrome.
'But again to re-emphasise the risks to children are extremely low with this infection, and there have not been many cases.'
Scarlett's battle comes after Alexander Parsons, who had no underlying health conditions, passed away aged eight months after being admitted to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital on April 6 and suffering a ruptured aneurysm.
He was diagnosed with Kawaski disease, which causes blood vessels throughout the body to swell, after developing a 'pinprick' rash, fever and swollen lymph nodes.
The baby boy died in the arms of his mother, Kathryn Rowlands, 29, who said she will 'never be whole again'.
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