Disease Information for Kawasaki disease: Definition

An acute, febrile, mucocutaneous condition accompanied by swelling of cervical lymph nodes in infants and young children; The principal symptoms are fever, congestion of the ocular conjunctivae, reddening of the lips and oral cavity, protuberance of tongue papillae, and edema or erythema of the extremities; an immune Polyarteritis occurs with myocardial infarction and cerebral ischemia; likely a post-infectious process with auto-immune features; Steroids and antibiotics do NOT help but high dose gamma globulin infusion often does-----------[NORD 2005]--------------------------------------Kawasaki Disease is an illness that involves the skin, mouth, and lymph nodes, and typically affects children who are under the age of 5; he cause of Kawasaki Disease is unknown, but if the symptoms are recognized early, kids with the disease can fully recover within a few days; if it goes untreated, it can lead to serious complications that can involve the heart; Kawasaki disease occurs in 19 out of every 100,000 kids in the United States; it is most common among children of Japanese and Korean descent, but the illness can affect all ethnic groups; presentation typically include a fever that lasts for at least 5 days, red eyes, a body rash and severely-chapped lips and mouth;

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