Source: National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) — Content from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (public domain).
Key points
* Kawasaki disease (KD) is a severe illness with very specific signs and symptoms.
* It occurs mostly in children younger than 5 years old and affects boys more often than girls.
* KD can cause heart and blood vessel damage, and it is the #1 cause of acquired heart disease in children in the US
* Most children recover with treatment.
* Speak with a healthcare provider if your child has symptoms of KD.
Overview
Kawasaki disease (KD), also known as Kawasaki syndrome, is a disease that can cause damage to the heart and blood vessels, mostly in children younger than 5 years old. It affects boys more often than girls. The cause of KD is not known.
In the continental United States, KD occurs in about 9 to 20 per 100,000 children under 5 years of age.
In 2019, there were more than 5,000 children under 18 years of age who were hospitalized with KD in the United States. Of these children, nearly 3,700 were under 5 years of age.
Signs and symptoms
Children may have all or just some of the signs and symptoms of Kawasaki Disease.
Children with KD have a fever that typically lasts for 5 days or longer. They may also have some or all of the following symptoms:
* Rash
* Swelling and redness of their hands and feet
* Irritation and redness of the whites of their eyes
* Swollen lymph glands in their neck
* Irritation and inflammation of their mouth, lips, and throat
KD can cause serious complications, including swelling of parts of the heart and other blood vessels. When this happens, the heart doesn’t work as well to pump blood to the body and could burst (coronary artery dilation and aneurysms).
Atypical Kawasaki disease
Patients whose illness does not meet the criteria for KD but have fever and abnormal coronary artery concerns are classified as having atypical or incomplete KD.
Treatment and recovery
Treatment for KD is available, and it must be given at the hospital. It typically combines a mixture of antibodies given through your veins (intravenous immunoglobulin) and aspirin. The treatment can help make symptoms less severe and reduce the risk of serious complications. Healthcare professionals may recommend additional treatments.
Most children recover with proper treatment.
Similar conditions
There are reports of illnesses that look like Kawasaki disease after infection with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). This is called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).
Keep Reading For Parents: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) Associated with COVID-19
Resources
* [American Heart Association](<http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/CardiovascularConditionsofChildhood/Kawasaki-Disease_UCM_308777_Article.jsp#.Wld688JlLcs%29%20instead>)
* [Kawasaki Disease Foundation](<http://www.kdfoundation.org/>)