Fazit Shilman came to the room of Dr. Sharit Peleg, a specialist in pediatrics at a general clinic in Tivon, Haifa district, with her 9-month-old baby Rotem, when he has been suffering from a high fever for 11 days, is weak, lethargic and rarely eats or drinks.
It seems that Rotem is suffering from a viral disease like the other children and adults during this period, but Dr. Peleg immediately saw when he entered the room that the baby was weak, with red and cracked lips and red eyes with no discharge. During a physical examination she saw that his lungs were clean but she noticed that his tongue was red with dots and that he was suffering from a rash Gentle on the back and chest.
“When a baby has a fever for more than 5 days, diagnoses of viruses, influenza, the kissing disease, etc. are ruled out. But what is also important to rule out is the rare Kawasaki disease. This disease is similar in its symptoms to viral diseases but is more dangerous because in this disease the arteries in the heart are damaged and May cause irreversible heart complications in the future. Medicinal intervention at an early stage in the disease prevents these complications, but it is important to know how to diagnose it.” Dr. Peleg explains.
There are several criteria for diagnosing the disease: fever for more than 5 days, a typical rash, an increase in blood platelets, eye inflammation without discharge, enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, usually on one side, red and cracked lips, a strawberry-like red tongue, swelling and redness of the hands and feet, in the second week and third peeling on the fingertips. It is enough that 5 criteria are met in order to diagnose the disease.
Dr. Peleg suspected that the baby was suffering from Kawasaki disease, so she referred the baby and his parents to the hospital’s emergency room for further treatment. In the emergency room, the baby underwent several tests, and indeed, in a blood count, his platelets were very high and he was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.
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The baby was admitted to the children’s department at Carmel Hospital and received intravenous treatment. The very next day you could see a marked improvement in his condition. In the echocardiogram they performed on the baby, it appears that there was no damage to his heart and he was released from the hospital a few days later with continued treatment and monitoring of his recovery.
“I want to thank Dr. Peleg for her attention, vigilance, care and professionalism, which referred us to the emergency room in time, and the medical staff at Carmel Hospital, who treated Rotem with devotion and brought about his recovery,” concludes Fazit Shilman, Rotem’s mother.
