Kawasaki Disease

[Mulboyne]

Rare Disease Affecting Children of Asian Descent Goes Undetected
SAN DIEGO –– Medical researchers report that a significant number of pediatric physicians fail to diagnose Kawasaki disease in Asian and other children younger than six months and older than eight years. This childhood disease is reported in about 5,000 children a year in the United States. One of the researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, Dr. Pia Pannaraj, said a previous study showed that delayed diagnosis of Kawasaki disease was a significant risk factor in the development of coronary abnormalities that can lead to heart muscle damage and deadly aneurysms.
...Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki of Japan first diagnosed Kawasaki disease more than 30 years ago, characterizing it by inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body, accompanied by high fevers, rashes, bloodshot eyes, swelling of the hands and feet, redness of the mucous membranes in the mouth, throat and lips and swollen neck lymph nodes.

[Mulboyne]

The Australian: Gene clues found for Kawasaki disease

AN Australian-led study has shed new light on the disease suffered by John Travolta's son Jett, who died last weekend. Kawasaki disease, a life-threatening infection which is common across Asia, was first described in the 1960s but its cause remains unknown, there is no diagnostic test and so the treatment is necessarily non-targeted. Perth-based associate professor David Burgner has co-led an international team which combed through the human genome, looking for the genes which make some children more susceptible to the illness. It was the first study of an infectious disease to start from the human genome level, says Dr Burgner from the University of Western Australia's School of Paediatrics and Child Health. "We think we've found at least eight genes that we believe are genuinely involved and about five of these genes work together," says Dr Burgner. "We have shown that in children with Kawasaki disease, when they are acutely unwell, these genes show different levels of expression, they are turned on or off compared to when the children recover. But this is by no means the end of the story - we've found some of the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle, hopefully a corner piece."

The human genes identified in the study are involved in the development of the cardio-vascular, and immunity response systems. Kawasaki disease results in swelling affecting all blood vessels, and infected children may have a high fever, a florid rash, bloodshot eyes and blood-red lips. Dr Burgner said sufferers became "very, very miserable and extremely irritable" as the fever lasted up to three weeks and the skin on the hands and feet peeled. Kawasaki disease can be misdiagnosed as scarlet fever, meningitis or measles, and a quarter of children who don't receive appropriate treatment suffer coronary damage putting them at risk of heart attack in later life. One in every 150 Japanese babies will contract the infection, but in Australia, and other predominantly non-Asian populations, it is less common. "That said, we'd have a case every couple of days in Australia," says Dr Burgner. "We don't know what triggers it. We think most, if not all, children are exposed to the bug that causes this, but it only triggers a response in susceptible children."

Actor John Travolta has said his son, Jett, who died aged 16 after suffering a seizure, had contracted Kawasaki disease when he was young. Dr Burger said it was hoped ongoing study into the function of the identified human genes would reveal further rare details about the disease's make-up. Ultimately, it was hoped to lead to development of an early-diagnosis tool, more targeted treatments or even point to a cause. "Finding the cause is something of a holy grail, really," Dr Burgner says. "Kawasaki disease has become the enduring mystery of paediatrics, because it is something we see all the time but we don't understand it at all." Results of the study are published in the journal PLoS Genetics.

[gkanai]

Travolta was talking to Larry King about how they tried to create a bacteria-free zone for the kid when he was young. They brought in all these vendors to regularly clean the kid's play/sleep area. The volatile chemicals used to kill the bacteria supposedly triggers or induces Kawasaki Disease.

Plus, you want your kid to get dirty and get chicken pox from their classmate, etc. so that they develop their own resistance to those everyday germs. Without exposure to that stuff, you end up living like the boy in the bubble when you didn't need to do that.

...too much money and not enough common sense.

[leitmotiv]

Sorry - couldnt resist.

[Russell]

Winds blamed for spread of Kawasaki disease

An airborne toxin that is blown into Japan from north-east China could be the cause of the mysterious Kawasaki disease, a childhood illness that mostly affects the very young, researchers said Monday.

Kawasaki disease occurs worldwide but is most common in Japan and causes fever, rash, peeling fingernails and in about 25 per cent of cases, it can also lead to coronary aneurysm, a life-threatening ballooning of arteries that supply the heart.

While its cause has eluded researchers ever since the disease was first identified in 1967, scientists noticed it tended to affect children in Japan only at certain times of the year.

"There are certainly other source regions around the globe, but focusing on the link between north-eastern China, Japan, Hawaii, and the west coast of North America is our best bet for figuring this out," said lead author Jane Burns, professor and director of the Kawasaki Disease Research Centre at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

Previous research using modelled air currents found that Kawasaki disease cases peaked only when winds originated from a vast cereal-farming region in northeastern China.

Scientists decided to test the air two to three kilometres over Japan, using a plane carrying large-volume air-filtering equipment.

They found that the dominant airborne fungus was Candida, a member of the yeast family and the most common cause of a wide range of human fungal infections worldwide.

In research mice, Candida has been linked to a coronary artery syndrome that resembles Kawasaki disease.

The latest analysis in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says the most likely cause is a "pre-formed toxin or environmental molecule" originating from northeastern China and that may be related to Candida.

The theory is that some sort of pathogenic airborne toxin or molecule appears to be picked up by the winds over areas where farming of grains is common.

When it reaches children who are genetically susceptible, it may cause unusual immune reactions.

Colin Phoon, associate professor of paediatrics at New York University Langone Medical Centre, described the study as "innovative" and said it "provides important clues."

"Additional air sampling during outbreaks, now that we have a focus, may lead to identification of agent(s) responsible, which may in turn lead to more effective treatments," he said.

Burns believes something must have changed in northeastern China since the 1960s, when the disease began to appear.

"We need to figure out what the activity or condition is that creates these aerosols carried by the winds," she said.

More

The Candida fungus appears to be very common, but the question is what made it airborne in China in the 60's.

[wagyl]

The Candida fungus appears to be very common, but the question is what made it airborne in China in the 60's.

Turdus mupinensis (Sorry, I couldn't resist. For those , see the common name in English)

[Russell]

The Candida fungus appears to be very common, but the question is what made it airborne in China in the 60's.

Turdus mupinensis (Sorry, I couldn't resist. For those , see the common name in English)

That's a genius play of words.

I also like the turd part in the Latin name.
Actually, it does give a hint about the real culprit.

This fungus appears common in the intestines of mammals. That means it is also in their shit. Where is shit used? In farming, as fertilizer.

And why did Kawasaki disease start to become more common in the US and Europe in recent years? Because they use more and more shit as fertilizer. So much for organic farming.

Gosh, I solved the mystery...

[Coligny]

The Candida fungus appears to be very common, but the question is what made it airborne in China in the 60's.

Fungus is easily airborne no ? I mean, look no further than cordyceps spores...

Wonder more aboot the demographic explosion making its spread far and wide possible no ?