Today, while talking to specialist pediatricians, I became aware of the existence of a pediatric disease called kawasaki disease. So what is this kawasaki disease?
What is Kawasaki Disease in Children?
In Kawasaki syndrome, inflammation occurs in the medium-sized vessels in the body of the sick child. This condition is called vasculitis in medical language. Kawasaki syndrome is a vasculitis disease. The resulting inflammation affects the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle.
Kawasaki disease is a common vascular inflammation in children. Especially in children aged 5-6 years; It is a disease that lasts more than 3 days with symptoms of high fever, rash, redness in the mouth, tongue and eyes. The most effective cause of the disease is viruses.
Beware of…!
Even an expert pediatrician I spoke to; “A sick child applied to me with the complaint of fever that did not go away after visiting the hospital and hospital for 5 days. Unfortunately, I was hospitalized with the diagnosis of kawasaki disease.” Said.
So what is this kawasaki disease; It is a type of disease whose exact cause is unknown, involving the veins and heart, and fatal if not diagnosed and treated early.
That's why early diagnosis and treatment is of great importance.
If your baby or child has a fever that does not go away for more than 5 days, it should definitely be evaluated for kawasaki disease.
Because in general, if there is a fever, antibiotics are given and the child is sent, and the family does not care if the child is taking antibiotics anyway, and the fever does not follow up.
Do not ignore it. Because if our child has a prolonged fever, our child should be evaluated in terms of kawasaki disease. Even if he is taking antibiotics, the fever should be checked and if a fever and other symptoms appear that do not go away, a doctor should be consulted.
What about children? What Causes Kawasaki Disease?
Although the cause of Kawasaki disease is not known exactly; Factors such as viruses, familial predisposition, exposure to chemicals are estimated to be effective in the emergence of the disease. Although it is known that the cause is related to some factors, Kawasaki syndrome is not a preventable disease. In addition, the disease can recur, albeit very rarely.
Other Symptoms of Kawasaki Disease
1- Peeling, redness or edema on the fingers and toes,
2- Redness of the skin.
3- A redness as if there is an infection redness in the eyes.
4- Redness in the tongue in the form of a strawberry tongue, cracks and redness on the lip edges.
5- Swelling in the neck.
If you have these findings along with prolonged fever, run to the doctor immediately…!