Are Kawasaki and COVID-19 Related? Symptoms in Children

Kawasaki disease is a type of medium-vesselvasculitisthat affects only children. The condition causes inflammation of the blood vessels throughout the body.

Although no obvious cause has been established, several theories suggest that viral infections, such as COVID-19, can trigger the condition in genetically predisposed children.

Studies have shown that children diagnosed with COVID-19 have developed symptoms comparable to Kawasaki disease or hyperinflammatory syndrome, including:

• Prolongedfever
• Changes in the lips and oralcavity
• Bilateralconjunctivalinjections
• Cervicallymphadenopathy
• Limb abnormalities
• Rashes

However, there are some differences between KD-like syndrome and KD, including faster progression of symptoms such as multisystem organ dysfunction along with a recent COVID-19 diagnosis. Patients with KD-like syndrome also have tachycardia and are more likely to experience cardiac or respiratory arrest. Primary investigations have shown that KD-like syndrome is linked to a worse outcome for patients.

While most MIS-C pediatric cases have no direct evidence of acute COVID-19 infection, many of them exhibited positive serological results, particularly a rise in immunoglobulin G (IgG), implying that MIS-C is a delayed immunological response to COVID-19. The lag time of 4-5 weeks in the pandemic curves of COVID-19 and MIS-C further support the idea that MIS-C is a post-infection symptom.

因此,目前德的国家aling with a COVID-19 outbreak should examine this unusual but life-threatening illness in children. Maintaining good personal hygiene, wearing a mask outside, social distancing, and vaccinating children against COVID-19 are all recommended.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and Kawasaki disease (KD) share some clinical features, including:

• Febrile illness
• Blood vessel inflammation
• Potential for coronary artery aneurysms

MIS-C and KD also share symptoms such as:

• Fever
• Conjunctivitis
• Oropharyngealcongestion

However, since these nonspecific clinical features can be seen in a variety of other pediatric infectious illnesses, it is unclear whether or how much MIS-C and KD overlap. Age distribution, symptoms, cardiac involvement, inflammatory markers, treatment, and outcomes appear to be major differences between these two disorders.