Do Symptoms Of Kawasaki Disease Come And Go?

Kawasaki is a disease that affects the mouth, lymph nodes, skin and is mostly detected in kids who are below five year old. Kawasaki disease is a self-limiting disorder which mainly affects the medium size arteries, especially the coronary arteries. In most of the countries, Kawasaki disease is a common cause of heart problems observed in children. The exact cause of this problem is not known but if the symptoms are identified at an early stage then proper treatment can help in complete recovers in sometime. However, if left untreated then it can lead to some serious problems that can affect heart. Research has revealed that Kawasaki disease majorly affects the children of Korean or Japanese, but can affect the children of other ethnic groups.

Symptoms can come repeatedly until the disease is completely cured. Kawasaki is a problem that cannot be prevented by any means, but the symptoms of the problems starts to appear in different phases. ⁽¹⁾

The first phase lasts for almost two weeks. Common symptoms observed in phase are:

High fever that may last up to five days
Rashes appear on the body
Contestant feeling of irritation
Swollen lymph nodes
Conjunctivitis
Swollen hands and feet

The second phase of the problem also lasts for minimum two weeks after the fever started. Symptoms observed during the second phase are:

In the third phase, the symptoms of the problem starts to disappear slowly, but if there is some complication associated then in this phase also patients can experience symptoms. Usually, this phase last for almost eight weeks before the energy level starts to get restored. The above mentioned symptoms can come repeatedly until the disease is completely cured. ⁽²⁾

Kawasaki Disease Risk Factors

There are mainly three risk factors that can increase the risk of Kawasaki disease. They are as follows:

Sex – Research report reveals that boys are more prone to develop this problem compared to girls.
Age – This disease is very common is children than in adults and that too in children who are below five years old.
Ethnicity – As discussed above children of Japanese or Korean origin are high prone to develop this problem compared to children of other ethnicity. ⁽³⁾

As soon as the patient experiences any of the above mentioned symptoms, they must visit the doctor immediately for help. Doctors ask the patient about the problem and from how long they are experiencing the problem. Based on the details provided they anticipate the problem and to ensure proper diagnosis they prescribe some tests.

Report of these tests help to identify the problem and also the in which phase the patient is. These details help in planning right approach for treatment.

Kawasaki Disease Treatment

Treatment for Kawasaki should start immediately after the problem is identified or maximum within ten days after the fever started. In this condition, majority of the patients are given high dose of purified antibodies, so that their body can successfully fight the infection. ⁽⁴⁾

In addition, the infected child can also be given moderate dose of aspirin for lowering or eliminating the risk of developing heart disorder. It is very crucial that kids should be given the annual dose of flu for strongly preventing viral infection. Make sure to discuss with the doctor first and then give any dose of aspirin to the kid. This is important to ensure that considering the health of the kid only safe dose is given to him/her.

Majority of patients who are suffering from Kawasaki disease can feel much better immediately after one round of treatment and in some cases more dosage can be required. In most of the cases patients recover completely but in some cases where the patient develops heart problem then extensive treatment from cardiologist is required for complete recovery. However, it takes time, money and above all patience.

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Do Symptoms Of Kawasaki Disease Come And Go?