01/05/2020
A great post from Dr Deb Levy explaining clearly, what you need to know about COVID 19 and Kawasaki Disease and alay some of your fear and clear up understandings.
COVID & KIDS:
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So what is Kawasaki disease and what does it have to do with coronavirus? ⠀⠀
Kawasaki disease is an inflammatory condition that affects blood vessels in children and therefore affects many organs. It is uncommon and usually children recover well, although some can develop long term heart complications. Early diagnosis and treatment minimises this risk. So it’s definitely a condition to be aware of
To diagnose it a child has to have a syndrome of features including
🔹high fever for more than 5 days
🔹red eyes (conjunctivitis)
🔹red inflamed lips, tongue and/or throat
🔹red inflamed hands and/or feet that peel a few weeks later
🔹non-specific red rash on body
🔹swollen lymph nodes in neck
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You need most of these to be diagnosed. There’s no specific blood test.
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So what does it have to do with covid-19? Well, there seems to have been a small cluster of children (I believe 20) with Kawasaki disease in the UK and Europe who’ve tested positive for coronavirus
It’s hard to know what to make of this at the moment. We don’t know the exact cause of Kawasaki disease and other viral infections have been suggested. So it’s entirely possible that the vessel inflammation that covid causes also causes a kawasaki like syndrome. But it seems to be rare considering the low numbers
My take home message for parents is: be informed and empowered to pick up the above signs and to speak to your doctor. They will then be able to determine likelihood of Kawasaki disease and arrange covid testing.
I hope this has helped!
