<p> France has more than a dozen cases of children with inflammation around the heart, the health minister said Wednesday, after Britain sounded an alarm about a new disease with possible links to novel coronavirus.</p>.<p>Olivier Veran said there was not enough evidence to confirm a link with the coronavirus sweeping the globe but France was taking the cases "very seriously".</p>.<p>Britain's state-run National Health Service issued the alert at the weekend about a small number of children presenting an unusual set of symptoms, including abdominal pain and inflammation that required admission to intensive care.</p>.<p>In London, health minister Matt Hancock on Tuesday spoke of "early signs that in rare cases, there is an impact of an auto-immune response in children that causes a significant disease.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-live-updates-india-records-highest-deaths-in-a-single-day-toll-stands-at-886-tally-crosses-28000-827545.html"><strong>For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here</strong></a></p>.<p>"It's a new disease that we think may be caused by coronavirus and the COVID-19 virus."</p>.<p>But he said that while some of the children who have it tested positive for the virus, others did not.</p>.<p>Cases have also been reported in Italy, Spain and Switzerland, Veran told Franceinfo news radio, adding he had received an alert from Paris concerning "about 15 children of all ages".</p>.<p>The French minister listed the symptoms as fever, digestive problems and vascular inflammation which can lead to cardiac deficiency.</p>.<p>"To my knowledge, fortunately no child has died from these complications which are fairly rare illnesses that can come with inflammation of the heart," Veran said.</p>.<p>Some of the cases "in France as in England, but not all, have turned out to carry the coronavirus", causing "some concern and watchfulness".</p>.<p>"I am taking this very seriously. We have absolutely no medical explanation at this stage.</p>.<p>"Is it an inflammatory reaction which sets off a pre-existing condition in children who have this virus or is it another infectious disease? There are a lot of questions.</p>.<p>The minister urged international and French experts to gather as much data as possible to establish if a link can be made between the coronavirus and the new symptoms, "which until now had not been seen anywhere".</p>.<p>France intends to re-open primary schools from May 11 and the minister noted that children had largely escaped COVID-19 infection and that serious cases involved those with underlying conditions.</p>
<p> France has more than a dozen cases of children with inflammation around the heart, the health minister said Wednesday, after Britain sounded an alarm about a new disease with possible links to novel coronavirus.</p>.<p>Olivier Veran said there was not enough evidence to confirm a link with the coronavirus sweeping the globe but France was taking the cases "very seriously".</p>.<p>Britain's state-run National Health Service issued the alert at the weekend about a small number of children presenting an unusual set of symptoms, including abdominal pain and inflammation that required admission to intensive care.</p>.<p>In London, health minister Matt Hancock on Tuesday spoke of "early signs that in rare cases, there is an impact of an auto-immune response in children that causes a significant disease.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-live-updates-india-records-highest-deaths-in-a-single-day-toll-stands-at-886-tally-crosses-28000-827545.html"><strong>For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here</strong></a></p>.<p>"It's a new disease that we think may be caused by coronavirus and the COVID-19 virus."</p>.<p>But he said that while some of the children who have it tested positive for the virus, others did not.</p>.<p>Cases have also been reported in Italy, Spain and Switzerland, Veran told Franceinfo news radio, adding he had received an alert from Paris concerning "about 15 children of all ages".</p>.<p>The French minister listed the symptoms as fever, digestive problems and vascular inflammation which can lead to cardiac deficiency.</p>.<p>"To my knowledge, fortunately no child has died from these complications which are fairly rare illnesses that can come with inflammation of the heart," Veran said.</p>.<p>Some of the cases "in France as in England, but not all, have turned out to carry the coronavirus", causing "some concern and watchfulness".</p>.<p>"I am taking this very seriously. We have absolutely no medical explanation at this stage.</p>.<p>"Is it an inflammatory reaction which sets off a pre-existing condition in children who have this virus or is it another infectious disease? There are a lot of questions.</p>.<p>The minister urged international and French experts to gather as much data as possible to establish if a link can be made between the coronavirus and the new symptoms, "which until now had not been seen anywhere".</p>.<p>France intends to re-open primary schools from May 11 and the minister noted that children had largely escaped COVID-19 infection and that serious cases involved those with underlying conditions.</p>