Doctors in Europe are investigating a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and clusters of severe inflammatory disease among infants who are presenting at hospital with high fevers and swollen arteries.

Medics in northern Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit areas during the pandemic, have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children aged under nine with severe cases of what appears to be Kawasaki disease.

Doctors in the UK have made similar observations, prompting Health Secretary Matt Hancock to tell a coronavirus news briefing on Monday that he was “very worried” and that medical authorities were looking at the issue closely.

England’s National Medical Director, Professor Stephen Powis, told the briefing he had become aware of reports of severely ill children with Kawasaki-like symptoms in the past few days, but stressed it was too early to determine a link with coronavirus.