Kawasaki Disease
What is Kawasaki disease?
Kawasaki disease is a condition which affects young children mostly under the age of 5.
What is the cause of Kawasaki disease?
Researchers have been working at finding the cause of Kawasaki disease for the past few decades.
However, till now, their efforts have met with failure. The cause of Kawasaki remains a mystery.
What are the signs and symptoms of Kawasaki disease?
Kawasaki disease causes the inflammation of blood vessels in the entire body. This leads to a variety of symptoms, some of which are as under:
Fever
The most prominent symptom in a patient suffering from Kawasaki disease is a very high and persistent fever. The fever is resistant to medication usually taken to treat fever such as paracetamol.
Inflammation
Inflammation of the conjunctiva (white portion of the eye) occurs mostly after the fever. It is not accompanied by any pain or discharge of any kind. However, the eyes do become red due to the inflammation.
Mouth
The lips of the child are swollen and cracked which often leads to bleeding. The tongue has a bright red colour to it, therefore often referred to as “strawberry tongue.”
Cervical lymphadenopathy
This is the enlargement of the lymph nodes present in the cervical region (neck). Half of all patients with Kawasaki have this symptom.
Edema of the extremities
Edema of the extremities occurs when the hands and feet swell up due to the accumulation of fluid in the tissues.
How do we diagnose Kawasaki disease?
Unfortunately there is no test for detecting Kawasaki disease so the only way to diagnose this condition is via the symptoms.
How to manage Kawasaki disease?
Treating the symptoms of Kawasaki is how we go about managing this condition. Medications which help us in relieving the symptoms of
Kawasaki are Intravaneous immunoglobulin, aspirin whereas corticosteroids are administered in cases which involve the recurrence of symptoms.
