Could this be kawasaki?What were your child's symptoms?

[Aklein38]

So my youngest son had a temperature for 3 days which broke but then the GP noticed he has pus on his tonsils so treated him with antibiotics. He is now all better.

2 days later my eldest ds who is 7 got a temperature, I kept checking his thorat (assuming he would get the same as his younger brother) and 2 days later he had pus on his tonsils so was started on penicillin V. Day 4 of fever and day 2 of antibiotics and still no improvement. Saw the GP who said it was probably because it was a virus as he developed a runny nose and the fever should break in the next 2 days.

We are now on day 5 of high temrpatyres and this morning when he woke I noticed he had red cracked lips and one eye was bloodshot! I'm now terrified he has incomplete kawasaki. I took him back to GP who said he could definitely see pus on tonsils so prescribed antibiotics but has never heard of kawasaki so dismissed me.

I am terrified I need to go to A&E to be treated for kawasaki but my husband says no as even though he still has a 38.9 temperature the bloodshot eye is in one eye and could be from excessive rubbing overnight as it was watery. And the lips could be from dehydration.

Just looking for others experiences with tonsilitis and kawasaki.

1. How high was the temperature with kawasaki?
2. Did it respond to calpol/ibuprofen?
3. What other symptoms were present?
4. How long did the cracked lips and bloodshot eyes last?
5. How was your child in themselves? Did they have enough energy to watch TV?

Sorry I suffer with health anxiety and OCD so any insights would be useful!

No experience and this may sound silly but Mrs Hinch child had it, I've just checked and she's got a highlight on it on insta
worth a read

None of us have examined your child. But of the approximately 10 to 15 children I have seen with Kawasaki's, in over 25 years of paediatrics, none of them had pus on their tonsils.

@nocoolnamesleft - thank you that's good insight. He has gone downhill again tonight with his temperature being 39C. I've given him his first dose of erythromycin as I can definitely see lots of pus now on both tonsils.

I've noticed that his other eye now is also bloodshot so he has had a temperature for 5 days, not responding to penicillin, bilateral bloodshot eyes, dry/cracked lips with swollen tonsils both with pus on them.

I'm not sure at what point I trot down to A&E or hold my nerve and treat this as viral like adenovirus. Also for context once his younger brother recovered from the temperature he had red eyes too for 3 days as it worried me so it could genuinely be the same bug.

He also is very congested now and has a runny nose, did you see that in children with kawasaki?

I've heard it is more common in under 5s but not unheard of in 7 year old so I'm just beside myself and don't know what to do!

If he has all the symptoms call 111
Kawasaki disease - NHS https://share.google/2ONRZOUy7jCtivjGp

If not then you have the antibiotics wait for tomorrow

But if you see deterioration and you are concerned then call 111 or go to a and e.

You know what you see and know your child

I mean it does not seem like you need to diagnose a very rare condition but sometimes a straightforward infection might need iv antibiotics if no improvement with oral antibiotics . But give those a chance.but... . Call 111 for a call back if you worried

I think you are jumping to the worst possible and unlikely diagnosis. He's also a bit old for this. too much googling? If you are still worried take him back to the gp, he could need antibiotics now. It does just sound like a simple bug being passed around, but who knows for certain.

Are you giving something to reduce his temperature?

Yes I am definitely guilty of being overly worried and googling the worst possible outcome. It's just he has never had a fever last so long and not want to move off the sofa. (He also has never had tonsilitis before).

It's the blooshot eyes that worry me and the cracked lips as that's 2 of the signs for kawasaki along with the fever and unresponsiveness to antibiotics and all stories I read say that many GPs just fob you off with "It's viral".

I don't want to not make the wrong call but equally dragging him to A&E and putting him through that and unnecessary tests I want to avoid too.

I'm really struggling. Husband says leave him to recover but I think he is too relaxed about the severity of the illness.

Just wanted to hear of others experience either of kawasaki or their kids witg tonsilotus not responding to antibiotics and having bloodshot eyes...

Yes I am definitely guilty of being overly worried and googling the worst possible outcome. It's just he has never had a fever last so long and not want to move off the sofa. (He also has never had tonsilitis before).

It's the blooshot eyes that worry me and the cracked lips as that's 2 of the signs for kawasaki along with the fever and unresponsiveness to antibiotics and all stories I read say that many GPs just fob you off with "It's viral".

I don't want to not make the wrong call but equally dragging him to A&E and putting him through that and unnecessary tests I want to avoid too.

I'm really struggling. Husband says leave him to recover but I think he is too relaxed about the severity of the illness.

Just wanted to hear of others experience either of kawasaki or their kids witg tonsilotus not responding to antibiotics and having bloodshot eyes...

Focus on the tonsillitis
If he is not responding to the new antibiotics after 48 hours take him to see a medical professional

It's very unlikely that he would have the same symptoms as his sibling and it not just be that he has the same illness, but a worse dose of it.

that doesn't mean you shouldn't call 111 if he is struggling though.

Can you upload a photo of his eyes so other people (who may be able to be a bit more objective, I mean that very kindly as someone else who suffers with health anxiety) can compare to online images of Kawasaki eyes?

Does he have a rash and strawberry tongue?

He wouldn't let me take photos of his eyes before bed tonight so I don't have one. I was able to get a photo of his throat which was very red and tonsils had clear pus on them. Dr said he had a strawberry tongue but I'm not super convinced it looks more or less normal to me. No rash this whole time as far as I could see.

What has he been taking for the temperature?

One of my 6 responds much better to ibuprofen for temp then paracetamol.

He's been taking both calpol and ibuprofen and has been responding but as soon as it wears off the temperature is there again.

With Kawasaki the temp doesn’t usually respond to normal doses of paracetamol or ibuprofen so the fact your DS’s has reacted normally is a good sign that it’s not KS.

Your Health anxiety is spiralling:

Your child has tonsillitis.

The temperature is doing what it needs to do.

If he hasn’t responded to the erothromycin after two days of doses, take him back.

if he stops responding to calpol and ibuprofen and his temperature stays high or he worsens in an objective way, take him back.

then when he’s better, if you’re not already, you need to seek help for your health anxiety

I’d never heard of Kawasaki but googling it now it seems extremely rare. What made you think he has it rather than a normal childhood illness? Is there a family history?

Mu husband was diagnosed with severe heart failure at 36 which is also extremely rare and a 1 in million likelihood at his age. So now I always think of the worst possible thing.

I am already actively in therapy for my health anxiety and OCD but right now with him being so poorly, I'm spiralling and thinking I need to take him to A&E.

I just wanted to know others experiences of their children having tonsilitis or kawasaki. Anyone?

Ring 111

With tonsillitis I have two that bounce through it without a thought, one of them I only noticed because his breath stank.

Three would normally be under the weather with it to usual levels. Bit of a temp, feeling grotty and the usual, but sorted with paracetamol/ibuprofen and antibiotics. One gets a runny nose, but they are so known for a runny nose they joked they’d get one when they broke their arm.

One is a nightmare with tonsillitis because he spikes high temps (as in 42/43), and sleeps his way through it until just before you start to panic that he’s responding poorly. Always needs two rounds of antibiotics. Randomly he doesn’t pick up as many coughs/colds/random viruses as his siblings, but gets hit hard by tonsillitis.

Nothing you’ve said about your DC suggests anything other than a yucky dose of tonsillitis.

My ds had KD.

The temps were 40 degrees. The temps did not respond to calpol / nurofen.

He was the most poorly I had ever seen a child. He was v pale. He had the sandpaper rash, bloodshot eyes, swollen red lips, He got the skin peeling a few days later.

@Sunshineclouds11 I suffer with health anxiety and OCD so simply saying "ring 111 or go to A&E" is not particularly helpful.

I'm not trying to diagnose over mumsnet and I've seen 2 GPs in 2 days (last one 7 hours ago) so I am definitely the kind of person to escalate things if needed. My problem is sometimes I escalate prematurely and put my kids through unnecessary medical visits and tests.

What I was hoping was to get others experiences of tonsilitis or kawasaki so that I can try and rationalise and decide what is the best next step.

I just want to understand if others have been through similar (so I can relax a bit) or not in which case I may need to escalate it.

DS used to suffer from frequent tonsillitis and I was always surprised at how poorly it made him. Very high temperatures which came down with medicine but he was having taking the maximum dose and you could tell when it was wearing off and he was ready for the next dose.

@GoodStuffAnnie - how old was you ds when he was diagnosed?

Mine does respond to calpol/ibuprofen (never goes to normal temperature but brings it down).

My worry is the bloodshot eyes and red cracked lips although the red cracked lips could be from mouth breathing as he is congested.

The eyes who knows, could be viral which is why it isn't responding to antibiotics.

I'm just very confused as I don't want to miss kawasaki. He has been very poorly and had jus been lying on the sofa the last 5 days barely getting up (unless the ibuprofen kicks in a bit)