In late April, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its list of COVID-19 symptoms. The CDC initially listed fever, cough, and shortness of breath as the defining clinical aspects of COVID-19, but the agency now recognizes that repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and a loss of taste or smell may accompany an infection.
With the virus and clinical research moving at breakneck speed, researchers are observing more symptoms, with mounting evidence that the disease presents differently depending on the patient’s age. Many of these symptoms remain rare, and scientists don’t yet know if they are directly caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
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Multi-system inflammatory syndrome
On May 4, the New York City Health Department issued a warning that 15 children in the city between the ages of 2 and 15 years had been hospitalized with multi-system inflammatory syndrome, which officials said is potentially linked to COVID-19. There have been reports of similar illnesses among children in Europe who also tested positive for COVID-19. Clinicians described the symptoms as similar to toxic shock syndrome or Kawasaki disease: the children all presented with fever and some with a combination of rashes, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Children are thought to have a lower risk of contracting COVID-19 and getting ill, and doctors have documented multi-system inflammatory syndrome only in rare cases.
