Kawasaki Syndrome

With sadness, I read of the sudden death of John Travolta's 16-year-old son, Jett. The family has my sincere condolences, and I can only imagine the profound shock and sorrow that they are now experiencing. The current media scrutiny regarding Jett's medical history is cruel, in my opinion, and can only be adding to the family's grief.

The Travoltas absolutely have the right to religious freedom and are entitled to confidentiality regarding their child's medical history. I can't see any benefit for speculation or criticism regarding the young man's health. Both John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston have been vocal in the past about their son's very serious bought with Kawasaki Syndrome when he was less than two years of age. The assertion that Kawasaki's Syndrome (a.k.a. Kawaski Disease) has some bearing on Jett's death at age 16 remains to be seen pending the result of his autopsy.

Early in my nursing career, I specialized in pediatrics and worked at Providence Memorial Hospital in El Paso, Texas. I remember only two children with Kawasaki's Syndrome in the few years that I worked there. In each case, the patient was just at toddler age and suffering from very high fevers (104-105 degrees F), the classic red, swollen, and pitted tongue (described as strawberry tongue), and a firey-red rash, particularly on the extremities. The rash eventually sloughed off leaving bits of peeling skin on the palms and soles of the feet. Other symptoms added to the child's misery: joint pain, sore throat, malaise, and conjunctivitis. Typically these kids were several days into the course of the febrile illness before it was clearly diagnosed as Kawasaki's Disease (as there are many febrile illnesses that occur in childhood). As soon as it was a definite diagnosis, attention was made to preventing any coronary artery complications by starting the child on daily aspirin [note: children on aspirin-therapy should receive an annual flu shot to avoid Reye's Syndrome.] In addition they were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin to boost their immune system. We would typically have these children hospitalized for days until they recovered sufficiently to go home. Thankfully, it's a rare condition. Unfortunately the specific cause of Kawasaki's Syndrome is still unknown.

To quickly access reliable information about Kawaski's Disease, I'm recommending "Kawasaki Syndrome" from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and two scholarly articles, (1) an April 2008 article published on Medscape, "Pediatrics, Kawasaki Disease," and (2) from May 2007, Journal of Internal Medicine, "Acute Kawasaki Disease: Not Just For Kids."

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