Kawasaki Disease – Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Contagious, Pictures

Kawasaki Disease – Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Contagious, Pictures

What is Kawasaki Disease?

This is a disease that creates inflammation in the artery walls of the small and medium sized arteries thru out the body, as well as the coronary arteries, that bring blood to the muscle of the heart. This disease is also called “mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome” due to it also affecting lymphatic nodes, skin, as well as mucous membranes located inside the nose, throat, and the mouth.

Some of the signs of this disease, for instance peeling skin and high fever, can be very frightening. But the great news is that this disease is treatable and the majority of children get well and recovers without any serious problems.

Kawasaki Disease Symptoms

The symptoms of Kawasaki develops in phases:

First Phase – symptoms and signs may consist of:

• Red eyes, extremely red – conjunctivitis – without a discharge that is thick


• Fever which is at times higher than 101.3 F and can last for one (1) to two (2) weeks


• Red, swollen skin on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet


• Rash on main area of the trunk and in the genital area


• Dry, cracked, red lips and extremely swollen, red tongue – known as “strawberry” tongue


• Lymphatic nodes swollen in the neck as well as often elsewhere


• Irritability

Second Phase – child may develop:

• Skin on hands and feet peeling, particularly at the tip of the toes and fingers, sometimes in large sheets


• Diarrhea


• Joint pain


• Vomiting


• Abdominal pain

Third Phase – symptoms and signs slowly begin to go away unless some complications develop. It might be as long as eight (8) weeks until levels of energy are normal again.

If the child develops a fever lasting more than four (4) days, contact the child’s physician or see your child’s physician if the child has a fever together with four (4) or more of the following symptoms and signs:

• Both eyes have redness


• Red and Swollen Tongue


• Palms or soles redness


• Peeling of the skin


• A rash


• Lymphatic nodes swollen

Treating this disease within the first ten (10) days of onset might greatly lessen the chances of any damage that is lasting.

Kawasaki Disease Causes

Medical professionals do not know exactly what causes Kawasaki disease, but do not believe this disease is contagious from individual to individual. There are a number of theories that link this condition to viruses, bacteria, or other factors that are environmental but none has been proven. There are certain genes that might increase the child’s vulnerability to Kawasaki disease.

There are three (3) things known to increase a child’s risk of developing this disease and they include:

• Age – Children under five (5) years are most at risk


• Sex – Boys have a greater risk than girls


• Ethnicity – Children of Asian heredity, for instance Korean or Japanese, have larger risk of developing this disease.

This disease is one of the leading reasons in children of acquired heart disease. About one (1) in five (5) of children with this disease will cultivate problems with the heart, but only an extremely small number of them will have any damage that lasts.

Complications of the heart include:

• Myocarditis – inflammation of muscle of the heart


• Mitral regurgitation – problems with the heart valve


• Dysrhythmia – heart rhythm that is abnormal


• Vasculitis – inflammation of blood vessels, typically the coronary arteries which supply the heart with blood

Any of the above complications may damage the child’s heart. Coronary arteries that are inflamed may lead to bulging as well as weakening of the walls of the arteries – Aneurysm. Aneurysms raise the risk of clot formation that block the artery, and can lead to a life-threatening bleeding internally or Heart Attack.

There are a small percent of children who this disease will be fatal for even with treatment.

Kawasaki Disease Treatment

In order to decrease any risk of difficulties, the child’s physician will need to start treatment for this disease as quickly as conceivable after the development of the symptoms and signs, when the child has the fever. The initial treatment goals are to decrease the fever as well as inflammation and to prevent any damage to the heart.

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The accomplishment of these goals is provided with the physician recommending:

Gamma globulin – immune protein – gamma globulin – thru a vein – intravenously – can decrease the danger of problems with the coronary artery.

Aspirin – Aspirin in high doses might help in treatment of the inflammation. Aspirin also decreases pain and inflammation of the joint and lower the fever. This disease is a rare exclusion to the instruction against aspirin being used in children.

Due to the risk of serious problems, the early treatment for this disease normally is provided in a hospital.

Following the initial treatment – as soon as the fever drops, the child should be switched to low dose aspirin for up to (8) week or longer if they develop an aneurysm in the coronary artery. Aspirin will help in preventing clotting.

But, if the child develops chickenpox or the flu during treatment they must be taken off aspirin. The taking of aspirin has been linked with Reye’s syndrome which is a rare illness that is very serious that affects the brain, blood as well as the liver of teenagers as well as children after a viral infection.

Without treatment – with no treatment the disease will last on average of twelve (12) days. Heart complications might be manifest later and last longer.

With treatment – child may begin improving sooner after the very first gamma globulin therapy.

If the child has signs of heart problems, the physician might advise follow-up testing in order to monitor the health of the heart at regular scheduled intervals normally six (6) to eight (8) weeks after the illness having begun. Any child developing any continuing problems with the heart, the physician will refer the child to a physician specializing in heart disease in children – pediatric cardiologist. In many cases, a child with an aneurysm of the coronary artery might need:

Anticoagulant drugs – drugs such as aspirin, warfarin (Coumadin), clopidogrel (Plavix), and heparin to help stop clots from developing

Stent placement – procedure involves the implantation a device in the clogged artery propping it open and decreasing any chance of reblockage. Stent placement might accompany an angioplasty

Coronary artery angioplasty – a procedure that opens arteries which are narrowed and are impeding blood flowing to the heart

Coronary artery bypass graft – operation involving the re-routing the blood around a coronary artery that is diseased by the grafting of a section of another blood vessel from the chest, leg or arm as an alternate route

Kawasaki Disease Contagious

Kawasaki disease has not been shown to be contagious.

Kawasaki Disease Pictures