Health Highlights: May 11, 2020

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Three New York State Youngsters Die of Syndrome Possibly Linked with COVID-19

A teen and two children in New York State have died of an inflammatory illness that may be linked with COVID-19, state officials say.

The condition causes inflammation in the walls of blood vessels, including those that supply blood to the heart. In rare cases, patients develop fatal blood flow restrictions, CNN reported.

“We were laboring under the impression young people were not affected by COVID-19. … We’re not so sure that that is the fact anymore,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Saturday, CNN reported.

State officials have said that dozens of children in the state had been hospitalized with a condition doctors described as “pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome,” and that it could be linked to COVID-19, CNN reported.

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Bill Would Close Live Animal Markets in New York State

There have been protests against wet markers in New York City and a state legislator has introduced a bill to shut them down while experts evaluate their potential health risks.

At wet markets, animals are sold alive and sometimes slaughtered for purchase. There are at least 70 legal ones in New York City and hundreds across the Unites States, CBS News reported.

A wet market in Wuhan, China is suspected of being the source of the coronavirus pandemic that’s swept the globe.

In April there were protests against wet markets in New York City. Since the pandemic erupted, New York State has stopped inspecting those markets.

New York state legislator Linda Rosenthal said she’s concerned about the lack of oversight and has introduced a bill to close them while the risk they may pose is evaluated. Her bill would suspend the licenses of current live markets, and halt new ones from being issued, CBS News reported.

Wet markets “pose a special risk because of the diversity of animals that are sold,” according to Infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Ben Lopman.

“Anywhere that humans come into contact with animals is a potential exposure, is a potential opportunity for infection to jump from animals to humans,” he told CBS News.

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