Number of children attending A&E at Edinburgh's Sick Kids plummets amid parents' fears over coronavirus

THE number of children being taken to accident and emergency at Edinburgh’s Sick Kids Hospital is dramatically down since the coronavirus crisis.

The average daily attendance at the hospital’s A&E department has fallen from 132 at this time last year to just 76 now.

It is being seen as confirmation that fears over Covid-19 are deterring parents from taking their youngsters for attention.

The figures come as scientists reported the first clear evidence of a link between Covid-19 and a rare but serious inflammatory disease similar to Kawasaki Disease.

A study of eight children admitted to a Birmingham hospital with the condition found they were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus several weeks before showing symptoms.

The test used to diagnose Covid-19 in adults produced negative results, but a specially designed antibody test revealed the children had been infected with the coronavirus and had produced antibodies to fight it.

It is not clear why the Kawasaki-like disease took weeks to appear, but it is thought it may be due to an excessive immune reaction triggered by coronavirus.

A 14-year-old boy who died in a London hospital earlier this week is the first known fatality from the condition in Britain.

Up to 100 children are now being treated in the UK. Symptoms typically include a fever, skin rashes, red eyes, cracked lips and abdominal pain.

Detailed figures show visits to A&E at the Sick Kids were just 531 for the week ending May 3, compared with 923 for the equivalent week last year and 994 two years ago.

Weekly attendances at the hospital’s A&E reached a peak of 1273 in November last year, but as coronavirus took a hold the number dropped to just one-third of that total, with 426 children being seen in the week ending April 12, 2020.

Lothian MSP and Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “The Royal Hospital for Sick Children, based at Sciennes, has highly professional staff and full measures are in place to minimise any risk of Covid-19.

“It is vital that people know NHS Scotland is open to treat people who don’t have coronavirus, because inevitably people are still going to get sick from other illnesses.

“It is fully understandable that families are concerned and do not want to attend hospital or put additional pressure on the NHS at this time but we need to ensure people access health services.

“Not taking your child to A&E if you are worried about their health could put them at far greater risk than Covid-19.”

Doctors had suspected a link between Covid-19 and Kawasaki Disease, but now a hospital in Bergamo, the city with the highest rate of coronavirus infections and deaths in Italy, has reported that since the outbreak reached there, cases of a Kawasaki-like disease rose to about 10 per month against one every three months in the previous five years.

Tracey Gillies, medical director for NHS Lothian, said: “The Royal Hospital of Sick Children is here, as always, to provide care and support for your children. In fact, rather than caring for children up to the age of 13 years old, we are now seeing children up until their 16th birthday.

“Both the emergency departments at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and at St John’s Hospital Livingston have been reconfigured to keep children with possible Covid-19 infection isolated from those without symptoms of the virus so you should not be afraid to bring your child in if they are seriously unwell.

“We would like to remind everyone that if you have a non-coronavirus health condition you should still contact your GP practice, dial 111 during out of hours or call 999 in an emergency. If it’s urgent, it’s urgent.”