Kawasaki disease symptoms among COVID-infected children

Recently, children with coronavirus infections have started developing rashes and inflammation, according to some reports. These symptoms are generally found in rare diseases like Kawasaki. Thankfully, other symptoms of Kawasaki disease in these COVID-infected children have not been found.

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Key-Points

Kawasaki disease affects children.

Its symptoms include red eyes, rashes, and a swollen tongue with reddened lips — often termed strawberry tongue — and an inflamed blood vessel system all over the body. There is constant high fever for at least five days. The disease also affects coronary functions in the heart.

The disease derives its name from a Japanese paediatrician, Tomisaku Kawasaki, who reported the first case in 1961. The doctor, 95, died on June 5 this year in Tokyo.

What causes Kawasaki disease is not yet known. What we do know is that it is an immunological reaction to an infection or a virus. A child’s immunity system responds to a particular infection and develops these symptoms.

Doctors in India have started seeing such cases over the last few weeks. Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) termed this new illness “multisystem inflammatory disorder”.