Kawasaki Disease News and Research

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Kawasaki disease (also known as lymph node syndrome, mucocutaneous node disease, infantile polyarteritis and Kawasaki syndrome) is a disease, largely of infants, which affects many organs, including the skin, mucous membranes, lymph nodes, and blood vessel walls, but the most serious effect is on the heart where it can cause severe aneurysmal dilations.

Experts offer guidance on diagnosis and treatment of myocarditis in children

Myocarditis in children is a rare yet challenging condition to treat. Diagnosis and treatment includes multiple options, and many cases of myocarditis resolve on their own, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, "Diagnosis and Management of Myocarditis in Children," published today in Circulation, the Association's flagship journal.

7 Jul 2021

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children significantly affects more Black and Latino children

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) significantly affected more Black and Latino children than white children, with Black children at the highest risk, according to a new observational study of 124 pediatric patients treated at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

25 Jun 2021

Corticosteroids may effectively treat children who develop a serious disorder after COVID-19

Corticosteroids may be an effective treatment for children who develop a rare but serious condition after COVID-19 infection.

16 Jun 2021

Kawasaki disease in children has reduced during COVID-19 due to pandemic prevention efforts

The rate of Kawasaki disease in South Korea has substantially decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly due to pandemic prevention efforts, such as mask-wearing, hand-washing and physical distancing, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

7 Jun 2021

COVID-19 symptoms in the feet

In a review paper recently uploaded to the Journal of Clinical Medicine by Jimenez-Cebrian et al. (May 19th, 2021), the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in feet, in particular, are reviewed, finding that vascular, dermatological, and neurological symptoms have been widely reported.

6 Jun 2021

Potential transmission for Kawasaki disease unexpectedly uncovered due to COVID-19

Pandemic prevention measures have been associated with lower rates of Kawasaki disease in children across South Korea.

4 Jun 2021

Study shows how rare but serious post-COVID-19 complication develops in children, adolescents

A multidisciplinary team from MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC), Brigham and Women's Hospital and other institutions have identified the mechanism of how an extremely rare but serious post-COVID-19 complication develops in children and adolescents.

26 May 2021

Risk factors for rare COVID-19 complications in children (MIS-C)

While the earlier waves of COVID-19 relatively spared children, some of the affected children have developed a systemic inflammatory condition, with occasionally fatal outcomes. Called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), its pathogenesis and risk factors are the subject of a new study on the medRxiv* preprint server.

21 May 2021

Are COVID-19-related complications in children explained by abnormal immune responses?

A common theme in reports on COVID-19 around the world has been the large number of children who have not been infected or shown signs of disease. However, though the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes less acute infection in this age group, it is associated with a severe immune-mediated multisystemic illness called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).

20 May 2021

COVID-19 may impact the heart health of young, healthy adults

New research published in Experimental Physiology highlight the possible long term health impacts of COVID-19 on young, relatively healthy adults who were not hospitalized and who only had minor symptoms due to the virus.

7 May 2021

Maintenance of good oral health may help prevent heart infection caused by mouth bacteria

Maintenance of good oral health is more important than use of antibiotics in dental procedures for some heart patients to prevent a heart infection caused by bacteria around the teeth, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in the association's flagship journal, Circulation.

15 Apr 2021

Exposure to COVID-19 can cause rare but life-threatening pediatric condition

Exposure to SARS-Co-V2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can put otherwise healthy children and adolescents at risk for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a rare but possibly life-threatening pediatric condition that can cause severe inflammation in organs like the heart, brain, lungs, kidneys and gastrointestinal system.

12 Mar 2021

Children with MIS-C have highly activated immune systems, study finds

Taking the first deep dive into how the immune system is behaving in patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that children with this condition have highly activated immune systems that, in many ways, are more similar to those of adults with severe COVID-19.

2 Mar 2021

UC San Diego receives $33 million from NIH for five COVID-19 diagnostic projects

University of California San Diego was awarded five Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) projects by the National Institutes of Health, totaling nearly $33 million over four years.

25 Feb 2021

Very few COVID-19-positive children require hospitalization, finds case study

A team of researchers at the Divisions of Infectious Diseases, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh, USA, sought to characterize the clinical presentation of children with COVID-19 in Western Pennsylvania.

18 Dec 2020

Study sheds new light on impact of COVID-19 in pediatric population

In the most comprehensive analysis to date of U.S. children tested and treated for COVID-19, an organization representing seven of the nation's largest pediatric medical centers reports that some groups of children are faring significantly worse than children in general during the pandemic.

24 Nov 2020

Aspirin to be tested as a potential COVID-19 treatment as part of RECOVERY trial

Now, in new research, the everyday painkiller aspirin will be evaluated as a potential treatment for COVID-19 in one of the United Kingdom’s most significant trials, aiming to evaluate whether it can reduce the risk of blood clots in infected people.

9 Nov 2020

Children with Kawasaki Disease at increased risk for cardiovascular events 10 years later

New research shows that children with Kawasaki Disease remain at an increased risk for cardiovascular events more than 10 years after hospitalization for their condition, highlighting the need for long-term heart disease surveillance and risk reduction strategies for these young patients.

6 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infection of carotid arteries may explain vascular involvement in COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in October 2020 shows that the virus causing COVID-19, namely, SARS-CoV-2, produces replicative infection in the carotid arteries and affects the vascular responses. This could have a profound bearing on the understanding of the disease and its clinical treatment.

14 Oct 2020

Different triggers for Kawasaki disease suggest slightly different genetic susceptibilities

Researchers at University of California San Diego report that while Kawasaki disease (KD) occurs in clusters, the traits, and thus the triggers of the inflammatory disease vary among clusters. The findings are published in the September 2020 online issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.

30 Sep 2020