🧒 PaediatricsCardiology / ImmuneStudentInternResident

Kawasaki Disease

Also known as: Kawasaki · mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome

An acute medium-vessel vasculitis of young children — persistent high fever with conjunctivitis, rash, adenopathy, strawberry tongue/mucositis and hand-foot changes. The critical complication is coronary-artery aneurysms; timely IVIG prevents them.

Source · Reviewed 2026-08-15 · v1.0— AI-assisted draft — verify against the cited guideline before clinical use.

⚕️ Education only — not medical advice. Verify against the latest official guideline and your local protocol; confirm every drug dose against the cited source before clinical use.

Who gets it

Children (mostly under 5); commoner in East-Asian children; a leading cause of acquired paediatric heart disease.

Red flags — escalate / refer

A child with ≥5 days of unexplained fever and Kawasaki features → treat promptly; incomplete/atypical Kawasaki (especially infants) is easily missed and still risks coronary disease; myocarditis/shock → emergency.

Work-up / diagnosis

1Clinical criteria (fever ≥5 days plus ≥4 of the 5 features) after excluding mimics; inflammatory markers.
2Echocardiography to assess the coronary arteries (baseline and follow-up); consider incomplete Kawasaki with prolonged fever and some features.

Management — overview

Give intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) plus aspirin promptly (ideally within 10 days of fever onset) to reduce coronary aneurysms.
Follow up with echocardiography; escalate (second IVIG/steroids/other) for IVIG resistance.
Long-term antiplatelet/anticoagulation and cardiology follow-up if aneurysms develop.

In-depthFull dosing & advanced protocol

Drug dosing

IVIG + aspirin (early)

Reduce coronary-artery aneurysms

Adult dose: Within ~10 days of fever onset, per protocol
Paediatric: Weight-based IVIG + aspirin per protocol
Route: IV + oral
Population: child

IAPIndian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) — guidelines ↗

Early IVIG prevents coronary aneurysms

Treating within 10 days of fever onset is the whole point — it protects the coronaries.
Don't miss incomplete Kawasaki (especially infants) with prolonged fever.
This is an exception where aspirin IS used in a child; echo at baseline and follow-up.

IAPIndian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) — guidelines ↗

References

Guidelines change. If something here is out of date, tell us — we keep these current.

🚩 Report outdated / suggest update

More protocols

Acute Gastroenteritis — ORS & ZincAcute diarrhoea (± vomiting), usually a self-limiting viral illness. The danger is dehydration; low-osmolarity ORS plus zinc are the evidence-based core of treatment.Neonatal SepsisA serious bloodstream infection in the first 28 days of life. The signs are non-specific — treat early and empirically; delay is dangerous.Febrile SeizureA seizure with fever in a young child (6 months–5 years) without CNS infection or another cause. It is usually benign, but exclude serious causes and support the family.

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👤 Who gets it

🚩 Red flags — escalate / refer

🔎 Work-up / diagnosis

🧭 Management — overview

💊 Drug dosing

IVIG + aspirin (early)

📈 Early IVIG prevents coronary aneurysms

📚 References

More protocols

👤 Who gets it

🚩 Red flags — escalate / refer

🔎 Work-up / diagnosis

🧭 Management — overview

💊 Drug dosing

IVIG + aspirin (early)

📈 Early IVIG prevents coronary aneurysms

📚 References

More protocols

Who gets it

Red flags — escalate / refer

Work-up / diagnosis

Management — overview

Drug dosing

Early IVIG prevents coronary aneurysms

References

Who gets it

Red flags — escalate / refer

Work-up / diagnosis

Management — overview

Drug dosing

Early IVIG prevents coronary aneurysms

References