Kawasaki Disease

Kawasaki disease is a severe, noncontagious childhood illness that causes inflammation of the blood vessels.

Symptoms of Kawasaki disease include a fever for at least 5 days, red eyes, swollen red lips and tongue, a rash, swollen feet and hands, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

Early diagnosis and treatment decreases the length of the illness and can prevent most blood vessel and heart damage. Most children have no long-term problems. Infants and children whose fever lasts more than 10 days are more likely to have complications related to blood vessel damage, usually in the arteries of the heart (coronary arteries). In rare cases, the damage can lead to a heart attack.