Kawasaki

[PeppaisaBitch]

Is this something to worry about? Does anyone have any more information? What I can find online seems really vague and I don't want to worry unnecessarily but I thought kids were much less affected.

They are stressing that they don't know what the connection is to coronavirus, or even if there is a connection. And that this presentation is extremely rare. Really it was an alert for HCPs, not the public, but of course the public have picked up on it.

Why would you worry OP? About this specifically?

I've been reassured by the idea that even if my children caught covid19 they would very likely be fine and not very affected. This makes me more worried that there could be complications. Especially because I can't seem to workout what the risk is from the information I have.

Lead story on news just now.

My understanding is that there is always a risk of post-viral complications, from any virus. This is no different but obviously this is the virus currently doing the rounds.
I could be wrong but that's how I'm interpreting it.

No you can't work out what the risk is because they don't know yet, they've only just started to see it happen. But it's very, very rare. Frankly most illnesses can have rare complications. Please try not to worry. Your children are probably as likely to get this if they even contract coronavirus as you are to win the lottery by buying one ticket. (I have not worked out the odds to this, obviously, I'm just making an analogy!)

I think that’s right @ Stealth. Inflammatory response in children who often present differently which was why I thought strange Matt H reacted as he did etc. Of course needs full investigation etc but will mean fear increases with all the knock on effects that has.

This concerns me as my DC developed what was suspected to be Kawasaki several years ago but after 7 straight days of fever and lethargy it suddenly vanished and left the GP very puzzled. This particular DC also has symptoms of potential lupus and the symptoms include random chest pain, dizziness and breathing issues.

I've explained the above to show why some posters will be worried about the current news and it might not be obvious to people who don't know their child's health background without going into detail.

Just irritates me when someone posts a query and is almost immediately asked why they would worry about it

My two youngest are fairly robust but one is susceptible to high temperatures and one has (probably) got the same genetic condition as me and mine was triggered by a virus. So whilst they aren’t high risk, I have concerns about this.

IF your child develops worrying symptoms similar to meningitis or sepsis or is genuinely very unwell that is the time to check these symptoms/contact doctor/etc
for the mean time all we can is follow isolation keep children (& ourselves) as healthy as possible (nutritious food & enjoyable food, exercise & making life as enjoyable as we can & planning -loosely, allowing for alternative opportunities - our days)

I first read about this condition in a fictional novel years ago. The characters didn't know what it was and thought it was to do with motorbikes and it concerned a small child. She was ok but ended up in hospital. The author clearly knew a lot about it though!

It sounds awful but it's been around a while.
I hope it's not covid related but who really knows? My son had ' slapped cheek syndrome' once ( probably called something else now? ) That caused a rash and temperature but is a very mild virus.

What ive seen hasnt really said how common it is or the age of the children.

Note that china didnt let it run riot like we have so with only 80k confirmed cases and lockdown where children werent at school there is litle evidence from them about potential effects in children and long term effects. As in they dont knw what happens when exposed a second time. I think with sars they found the second time the immune system overreacted (adults).

The absence of proof of long term effects in children just means they dont know yet as it's only been 4-6m.
I said this on another thread. If mumps appeared now we wouldnt know for years about the infertility caused to boys.
We may suddenly have more asthmatics ?
My dd had a heart murmur turn up after lots of ear infections. Or maybe hand foot and mouth. I did wonder about things like lupus because of her behaviour reaction to even nasal (live) flu vax.

We don't know the risks yet, and hopefully research will be able to tell us what the risk is, if any. It's very likely that it's a very small risk, but obviously serious for those children who do contract it- or they may be developing symptoms for another reason.

I think if you have children under 9, it's something to be vigilant for, whilst being aware the risk is likely to be quite small.

This metro article has lots of photos of the symptoms: metro.co.uk/2020/04/28/children-dead-contracting-kawasaki-disease-linked-coronavirus-12619738/

And there's an NHS direct page here: www.nhs.uk/conditions/kawasaki-disease/symptoms/

There are hospital treatments available if the disease is recognised- it's not fatal unless untreated- I think Matt Hancock should have emphasized that.

If you child has any worrying symptoms, then obviously it's important to seek medical help ASAP.

I find it baffling this hasn't received more attention on Mumsnet. edition.cnn.com/2020/05/07/health/new-york-children-coronavirus-kawasaki/index.html

Previous research has indicated links of Kawasaki to coronavirus's. It's something that needs to be looked at urgently.
Perhaps USA are seeing it more because they apparently have a different strain of COVID-19, but nevertheless, it is incredibly concerning, especially in view of it appearing to be post-infection, the asymptomatic nature of most children's COVID infections, and the suggestion that schools could return at some point within the next weeks.

64 is quite a large number ...
"Officials said on Wednesday that the number of children who have been hospitalized in New York City with symptoms consistent with a rare disease possibly linked to the coronavirus has nearly quadrupled to 64. Health officials said the illness has features of Kawasaki disease, a serious illness previously noted in children with COVID-19 in the United Kingdom."

www.cbsnews.com/news/kawasaki-disease-children-hospitalized-new-york-city-coronavirus-link/

I think there are a lot of unknowns at the moment, I am sure more will come to light as they learn more. For now, just continue you on with good social distancing and stringent hygiene.

In the UK - of the eight children hospitalised with this (all seem to be at Evelina in London - perhaps they are specialists) - 7 out of 8 are obese, 6 are from BAME and 6 are male. So clearly this is affecting certain types of children. The risk is tiny and so although this is a concern for certain groups of children, it isn’t a real risk for the majority of children. Perspective required on stories written by ill informed journalists! Plus Kawasaki specialists at Great Ormond have said admissions for this are no higher than in a normal year. Post viral reactions in children are quite normal (for example my kids always get a harmless rash a few days after a virus - that’s a post viral response) and Kawasaki is a more serious kind of post viral reaction. Not to trivialise this issue but I just thought this info might be useful.

Information is vague because it’s really rare. It’ll be studied but no one is going to give iron clad facts when they haven’t got the evidence to back it up and this virus hasn’t been on our radar for even six months yet.

As it stands post-viral complications are a known thing and medics have a good foundation of knowledge to treat them.

Take some reassurance from the numbers and the access to medical care. I understand a few doctors were angry at the way this information was presented in the press but now that it’s out there at least we can be alert to any symptoms that might present themselves.

@chippitydoda

Thank you that is a helpful post.

I take your point, that it is rare, and many kids do get post-viral rash ( been there ). Given schools have been closed to most, we have a large BAME community in the UK and many kids are overweight, I'd say those are factors to ring a louder bell not a quieter one ;). It is reassuring that admissions have not been unusual, hope it continues when children associate again. It clearly is affecting ' certain types ' of children. But that means nothing in the grand scheme of things, other than some are more at risk. Given their parents are also more likely to be at risk, I'd say this does require immediate attention. Proactive not reactive and all that. Personally, I feel the government should act immediately to ensure everyone has access to Vitamin D supplements, especially children from the BAME community, with obesity and ethnicity being a factor it seems.

Kawasaki isn't common. Yes it is something to worry about. My daughter had it at 6 months old and she is now 5 and still suffers with complications from it. It was horrific.

But this autoimmune response is not necessarily Kawasaki.

My advice is, if your child has ANY of the symptoms of kawasaki, seek medical advice immediately.

We were fobbed off as viral and my daughter now has potential life long heart issues because of it.

The reason they are raising the alert is because even with lockdown we have 40 kids showing very alarming symptoms in a new syndrome that is fairly severe. The big question is what happens when they go back to school. Not one doctor thinks this isn't related to covid-19.

My dd1 had a persistent fever at 4yo from maybe hfm or bacterial ear infection.
And because the ear infection wasnt treated she ended up with a heart murmur.

I think asian children are more prone to kawasaki. And one coronavirus NL something is known to trigger it.
I didnt realise it was linked to overweight children. But that will increase inflamation as it does in adults

My ds had Kawaski disease that was misdiagnosed and has left him with some heart damage, so if you have concerns do raise your worries.
There has been outbreaks of Kawaskai disease in various parts of the world in the past.

I find this interesting because I work in an NHS lab and I vividly remember at the end of Feb/beginning of March one of my colleagues was working next to me and she asked what Kawasaki disease is because she had no idea and the patient who’s sample she was processing had it, then the very next day she came across another patient with it and she said how strange it was considering it’s uncommon to see.

@HerbieHerr but this (if correct and definitely linked to covid which isn’t outside the realms of possibility) fits with the general picture of a contagious novel virus doesn’t it?

No one has any immunity so even for relatively rare complications there’s a sudden influx as people encounter it in a short space of time. It still means it’s rare.