FAQs
What is Kawasaki disease?
Kawasaki disease is an unusual illness characterized by inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body. It is accompanied by the following symptoms: fever; rash; swelling of the hands and feet; bloodshot eyes; irritation and redness of the mucous membranes of the mouth, lips, and throat; and swollen lymph nodes in the neck. The immediate effects of Kawasaki disease may not be serious but, in some cases, long-term complications including damage to the coronary arteries (vessels that supply blood to the heart muscle) and heart muscle may result.
Can KD be prevented?
Unfortunately, at this time, Kawasaki Disease cannot be prevented. However, programs such as the Kawasaki Disease Research Program at UCSD/Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego are working in conjunction with researchers throughout the United States and other countries to further understand this mysterious disease.
What is the cause of KD?
No cause of Kawasaki disease has been identified. Most experts agree that an infectious cause (such as a virus or bacteria) is likely, although a hereditary tendency also exists and explains why the disease occurs more frequently among children of Asian ancestry. Younger brothers and sisters of a KD patient have a 10-fold increased risk of KD because of a shared genetic predisposition. When children with Kawasaki disease grow up, their children are at higher risk of developing KD. At the present time, there is no evidence that the disease is contagious.
Where can I find education resources?
You can visit the KD website’s education page.
Who can get KD?
Kawasaki disease affects children almost exclusively; most patients are under 5 years of age. For reasons still unknown, males acquire the illness almost twice as often as females.
Rarely, Kawasaki Disease can reoccur months to years after the initial disease (in Japan, recurrences have been reported in up to 10% of cases). Should the signs and symptoms described earlier reoccur, call your doctor immediately.
Is there any information about KD and Covid-19?
Please visit https://kdfoundation.org/covid19/ for more.
All information has been sourced from the KD Foundation website.