Kawasaki disease: A mysterious childhood disorder

10 October, 2012

Kawasaki disease is a form of condition called 'Vasculitis'. It is also known as lymph node syndrome and this disease largely affects the infants. It is an uncommon illness which involves skin, mouth and lymph nodes, and mainly affects the kids who are under the age of five.

KAWASAKI DISEASE is common among the children from Korean and Japanese descent, but can also affect other ethnic groups. The cause of Kawasaki disease is still unknown, but if the kids are diagnosed with this disease at an earlier stage, they can fully recover in few days. If untreated, it can cause serious heart related problems.

Kawasaki disease mainly causes inflammation in the arteries that are small and medium in size, throughout the body. This includes coronary arteries also. It also affects the lymph nodes, mucous membrane inside the mouth, skin, nose and throat.

The symptoms of Kawasaki disease appear in phases. The symptoms in the first phase include high fever that lasts for one to two weeks, extremely red eyes, dry and cracked lips, swollen red skin on the palms, swollen lymph nodes, rash on trunk and genital area and irritability.

The second phase of symptoms of Kawasaki disease is peeling of skin on hands and feet, diarrhea, vomiting, joint pain and abdominal pain. The third phase symptoms of the disease go away on its own, unless complications develop, according to Kids Health.

The treatment of Kawasaki disease should begin as soon as the symptoms of the disease appear. Initially the treatment is provided to lower the fever, prevent the heart damage and inflammation. The treatment of Kawasaki disease includes infusion of gamma globulin (immune protein) intravenously; this helps in lowering the risk of coronary artery problems.

The medication that best works for Kawasaki disease is asprin. After the initial treatment of Kawasaki disease, the patient needs to take low doses of asprin for 6 to 8 weeks. Asprin helps to prevent the clotting of the blood. But, remember if the patient develops chicken pox or flu during the treatment then asprin use should be stopped.