Teen treated for COVID-19 really had cancer

Case report reveals how his symptoms mimicked the virus but were due to Ewing's sarcoma

A young teen treated for severe coronavirus really had Ewing’s sarcoma, prompting doctors to issue a warning about ‘COVID mimics’.

The 13-year-old Spanish boy had presented to the Castellon General Hospital in Comunidad, Valenciana, with a three-day history of fever followed by dry cough and asthenia.

At presentation he had renewed fever, a thoracic uticarial rash and complained of lower back pain.

The teen had previously been tested for SARS-CoV-2, with a rapid antibody test using lateral-flow chromatographic immunoassay showing a positive result for IgG antibodies, his doctors reported in BMJ Case Reports.