Kawasaki like illness due to COVID-19: a review of the literature

Introduction: Viral infections have been described as triggers for Kawasaki Disease (KD), a medium vessel vasculitis that affects young children. Akin to the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, there is a similar rise in the incidence of KD in children affected with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Severe A...

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Main Authors: Yulin Fang, Veeraraghavan Meyyur Aravamudan, Gurusaravanan Kutti Sridharan, Keyur Kamlesh Mehta, Ramkumar Sekhar, Nagendra Boopathy Senguttuvan, Indumathi Venkatachalam, Muhammad Bilal Abid
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2021-05-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/14185
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Summary:Introduction: Viral infections have been described as triggers for Kawasaki Disease (KD), a medium vessel vasculitis that affects young children. Akin to the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, there is a similar rise in the incidence of KD in children affected with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) has been reported to induce an exaggerated systemic inflammatory response resulting in multi-organ involvement, particularly initiated with pulmonary parenchymal damage. This review article will discuss KD-like manifestations in COVID-19 patients in the pediatric cohort. Methodology: Search terms “Kawasaki” “COVID-19” “SARS-COV-2” “PIM-TS” and “MIS-C” were used to look for relevant articles in PubMed and Google Scholar published in the last 5 years. Results: There is some evidence to suggest that SARS-CoV-2 stimulates dysfunctional and hyperactive immune reactions mimicking KD in young patients. Conclusions: Therapeutic options, both investigational and repurposed, include intravenous immunoglobulins, steroids and anticoagulation. More studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of these treatment options.
ISSN:1972-2680