How to Know When You Can Rule Out Kawasaki Disease

Kawasaki disease, a rare children's illness, is sometimes called mucocutanaeus lymph node syndrome. While no one knows what causes Kawasaki disease, doctors do know that the illness enlarges the blood vessels throughout a child's body; because of this, Kawasaki disease can lead to acquired heart disease in some cases. It is important to know if your child has this illness or not so that you can determine a course of treatment.

Instructions

• 1

  Determine if your child has all of the Kawasaki disease symptoms. Kawasaki disease displays itself through a fever that lasts at least five days, red eyes, body rash, swollen lymph nodes in the neck and swollen, red lips, tongue, hands and feet. If your child has fewer than four of these symptoms and has not had a high, prolonged fever, chances are that he does not have Kawasaki disease.

• 2

  If your child is older than 5 years, there is a much smaller chance of he or she ever having Kawasaki disease, according to the Kawasaki Disease Foundation, while says 80 percent of Kawasaki disease victims are children under 5. However, there have been rare occurrences of Kawasaki disease in older children and teenagers, according to the Foundation.

• 3

  If your child is a girl, there is a somewhat smaller chance of her having Kawasaki disease. It is more common in boys than girls, with at least 60 percent of children afflicted with this disease being boys, according to the Kawasaki Disease Foundation.