Her Daughter has Kawasaki Disease

I received a text from my friend and former classmate and telling me to please pray for the quick recovery of my daughter who was infected by Kawasaki virus.  I immediately called her and give some word of wisdom, I don’t know what to say but one thing I can be sure that I will help her is to pray and intercede with her daughter.  She also told me that her daughter needed 19 vials of IVIG to prevent complication of the disease.

She told me that her daughter have been experiencing fever for 4 days as high as 38.5 C with red eyes, rash on the stomach, chest and some part of the body, with red, dry and cracked lips, sore throat and joint pain.  At the fifth day, they decided to confine it to the hospital and her pediatrician diagnosed that she has Kawasaki disease.

According to Mayo Clinic, Kawasaki disease is a condition that causes inflammation in the walls of small and medium-sized arteries throughout the body, including the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle.  Also, it can affect lymph nodes, skin and the mucous membranes inside the mouth, nose and throat.  It causes is still unknown.  It often affects children under five years old.

Other symptoms includes peeling of the skin on the hands and feet, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Having Kawasaki disease is a serious disease since it is a leading cause of acquired heart disease in children.  Heart complication includes myocarditis, mitral regurgitation, dysrhythmia, vasculitis and aneurysm.

As of now there is no specific test to diagnose Kawasaki disease.  It is just based on the symptoms to rule out the disease. Treatment of Kawasaki disease includes Aspirin and Gamma globulin or Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Aspirin is help to treat inflammation and decrease pain and joint inflammation while Gamma globulin is use to lower the risk of coronary artery problems.

Aside from being a fatal disease, Kawasaki disease is also very costly since per vial of IVIG is P12000 here in the Philippines. So it is essential to our children to strengthen their immune system.  Although, expert said that there is no way to prevent Kawasaki disease, it is still necessary to build a strong immune system to fight against bacteria and viruses.