Kawasaki disease consortium

Dr.P.Vadamalayan Founder of Vadamalayan Hospitals Since:1957

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Action Plan of Kawasaki Disease Consortium

Kawasaki Disease Consortium

About the Disease

Welcome to the Kawasaki Disease Consortium, a project of Vadamalayan Memorial Trust dedicated to Kawasaki Disease issues. Kawasaki disease (KD), also known as Kawasaki syndrome, is a serious illness characterized by inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body that primarily affects young children and infants. Kawasaki disease is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children. Although about 80 percent of patients are under five years of age, older children and teenagers can also get KD, but this is uncommon. KD is more common in boys than girls, and the majority of cases are diagnosed in the winter and early spring. It is not contagious.

The disease is named after Tomisaku Kawasaki, a Japanese pediatrician who first described the illness in the medical literature in 1967

FOCUS

As a part of our corporate social responsibility, Vadamalayan Hospitals is launching Kawasaki Disease Consortium that will bring people together to create awareness about this disease.

The Kawasaki disease consortium will conduct meetings, conferences and symposiums for the benefit of medical fraternity and public. It will bring together the families of children who are affected by Kawasaki disease. Moral and monetary support will be provided for the real needy families.

SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

Kawasaki Disease is characterized by an inflammation of the blood vessels throughout the body. There is no specific test for KD; doctors make a clinical diagnosis based on a collection of symptoms and physical findings. Early symptoms of KD include:

Fever that lasts for five or more days

Rash, often worse in the groin area

Red bloodshot eyes, without drainage or crusting

Bright red, swollen, cracked lips,strawberry tongue, which appears with shiny bright red spots after the top coating sloughs off

Swollen hands and feet and redness of the palms and soles of the feet

Swollen lymph nodes in the neck

Understandably, children with these symptoms are extremely uncomfortable and irritable. Any parent whose child has persistent fever and any of these symptoms should take him or her to the doctor immediately.

Without treatment, about 25% of children develop heart disease involving the coronary arteries.Timely diagnosis and treatment (which usually includes intravenous gamma globulin) is highly effective in preventing coronary complications. Doctors continue to study the long-term outcome of children who do not appear to have coronary involvement. Other kinds of longer-term consequences (e.g., non-coronary) are extremely rare. There is no evidence that links KD with autism or a seizure disorder. A very small number of KD children might have a seizure in the early acute stage of KD when there are very high fevers, but there is no on-going or long term seizure prone condition.

Kawasaki disease which affects children, once considered rare is being increasingly reported in certain parts of India. If not detected in the early period, this disease has fatal consequences. Early diagnosis and proper management will curb the secondary manifestations of this disease, which affects the heart.

Action plan of Kawasaki Disease Consortium

To disseminate information about this disease for both the physicians and general public
Intensive awareness campaign for one year and thereafter periodical reminder
Web portal is developed with all necessary information regarding this disease for both the medical fraternity and general public.
An interactive interface each for public and medicos can be developed.
The queries will be answered by the pediatric cardiologist and neonatologist.
An intensive awareness programmes for general physicians and pediatricians has been planned.
Also through Indian Medical Association CMEs will be conducted throughout the state.