January 26th is International Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day. The syndrome is an acute febrile illness affecting children younger than five years old.
Its name comes from Tomisaku Kawasaki, the Japanese who first described the disease in 1967. The signs are rash, fever, swelling of the hands and feet, redness of the white of the eyes, swollen lymph glands, irritation of the mouth, lips, and throat.
The good news is: Kawasaki’s illness is treatable. While most kids recover, it’s necessary to receive the treatment in the first ten days of the onset. Hundreds of children are affected by it every year in the UK, and it remains a leading cause of acquired heart disease.
What causes Kawasaki syndrome?
We don’t know what causes this syndrome but we suspect that there may be several factors involved such as infection with Group A streptococcus bacteria and genetic factors like abnormal immune function (immunodeficiency). The infection with Group A streptococcus bacteria may trigger an immune reaction that causes inflammation in certain tissues such as blood vessel walls (vasculitis), which can lead to coronary arterial stenosis (narrowing) or coronary artery aneurysm (dilation).
