Doctors told the parents of baby Elijah Edwards he had been lost to an illness so rare it was probably he would be the only death from it in the country for years. But just over a year after their son's death in Bristol, Joann and Christian Edwards from South Wales learned Elijah is not the only Welsh baby to have died from the illness - 15 infants across South Wales and the South West of England had been diagnosed with the usually rare disease.
Medical experts are investigating a series of infections of enterovirus with myocarditis (inflammation of the heart). Enterovirus is a common childhood illness, not unlike the common cold, and most children recover completely after infection. However, in some cases of infection involving very young infants, it can cause serious illness within the first few weeks of life.
Public Health Wales is investigating 10 cases of the illness occurring between June 2022 and November 2022. One of these babies sadly died.
