Kids beware, killer kawasaki on prowl

Vividha Kaul / TNN / Mar 27, 2006, 00:24 IST

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The ailment, which is most prevalent amongst children of Japanese and Korean origin, often goes undiagnosed amongst children here.

NEW DELHI: "I have heard of the motorcycle, but I never knew that Kawasaki was a disease,"was how Dinesh Ghai reacted when he was told that his 9-year-old daughter Utkarsha was suffering from the disease.
The ailment, which is most prevalent amongst children of Japanese and Korean origin (and hence the name), often goes undiagnosed amongst children here, thanks to the low levels of awareness about it even amongst doctors.
"We have seen 32 cases of the disease in the past two years and since it is difficult to diagnose, many cases go undetected,"said Dr Anupam Sibal, medical director, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.
The lack of information about the disease has prompted parents of children suffering from it, to come together to form a support group in the city.

"The disease mostly affects children under the age of five and is characterised by a prolonged fever which does not respond to antibiotics. Eyes, lips and the tongue become red and in later stages, peeling of the skin on hands and feet occurs,"said Dr Jane Burns of the University of California, who's in town to create awareness about the disease. What causes the disease, however, is still not known.
If left untreated for 10-14 days, the disease which affects the lymph nodes can cause considerable damage to the coronary arteries which supply blood to the heart.

"It's a self-limiting disease, so if you don't treat the disease, its symptoms become silent, but the damage to the heart continues. Such children can die of heart attacks or other cardiac complications later,"said Dr Howard Kushner of the Rollins School of Public Health.
In fact, after meeting some young patients on Thursday, Dr Kushner said: "The disease seems more common here
than people think, though there is no data available."However if picked up early, the disease is curable but the treatment is expensive.
"It involves giving gamma globulins or purified antibodies intravenously and we spent almost Rs 1,00,000 on this alone for our son,"said Vineeta Gupta, a resident of Preet Vihar, who is also part of the support group.
"There are lot of doubts in a parent's mind regarding this. Will my child grow up to be of normal height? Will he be able to lead a normal life? Will he able to work hard for a living? With the support group, we hope to be able to help parents handle such situations,"said Neera Ghai.
For people like Sanjay Gupta who has been making regular trips to the city to get his 11-month-old son Krishan treated for the disease, meeting fellow parents has sure been a great help.

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