What is 'strawberry tongue'? New COVID-19 symptom spotted in children

What is 'strawberry tongue'? New COVID-19 symptom spotted in children

Kawasaki disease is one of the causes for strawberry tongue.

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Friday, December 11, 2020, 10:56 PM IST
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What is 'strawberry tongue'? New COVID-19 symptom spotted in children | Photo: Twitter

Fever, sore throat, loss of sense of smell, shortness of breath and body ache are some of the most common COVID-19 symptoms. Meanwhile, the virus has been comparatively kind towards children as they are found to be less vulnerable to the infection.

However, according to a report, COVID-19 can trigger a serious condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). In the children who go on to develop MIS-C, some organs and tissues — such as the heart, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, digestive system, brain, skin or eyes — become severely inflamed.

The New York University Grossman School of Medicine assessed 35 children who had developed MIS-C and found out that the children had swollen eyes, flushed cheeks and a "strawberry tongue".

What is a 'strawberry tongue'?

As per healthline.com, a strawberry tongue isn’t itself a condition but a underlying condition or disorder. In this, the tongue turns red, swollen and bumpy with enlarged taste buds.

Apart from Vitamin B12 deficiency and allergies, Kawasaki disease is one of the causes for strawberry tongue. Kawasaki disease is a rare condition that usually affects children under five and causes blood vessels to become inflamed. High fever, rash, red eyes, peeling skin, chapped lips and swelling in hands and feet are some of the symptoms of Kawasaki disease.

Global coronavirus cases:

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 69.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.58 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 69,496,859 and 1,580,727, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 15,599,122 and 292,001, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India comes in second place in terms of cases at 9,767,371, while the country's death toll soared to 141,772.

The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (6,781,799), Russia (2,546,113), France (2,391,643), the UK (1,792,611), Italy (1,787,147), Spain (1,720,056), Argentina (1,482,216), Colombia (1,399,911), Germany (1,270,757), Mexico (1,217,126), Poland (1,102,096) and Iran (1,083,023), the CSSE figures showed.

Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 179,765.

The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (112,326), the UK (63,179), Italy (62,626), France (57,044), Iran (51,496), Spain (47,344), Russia (44,769), Argentina (40,431), Colombia (38,484), Peru (36,401), South Africa (22,747), Poland (21,630) and Germany (20,737).

(With IANS inputs)

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