Posted on: Monday, January 24, 2005
Virus-illness link studied
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i researchers have taken an interest in a study that suggests a link between a newly discovered virus and the childhood illness known as Kawasaki disease, and will study Kawasaki patients locally to see if the virus is present.
Kawasaki Disease Foundation, KDfoundation.org About 100 cases are identified in Hawai'i each year.
A study set for publication in the Feb. 15 edition of Journal of Infectious Diseases found New Haven virus in lung fluids from eight of 11 children with Kawasaki disease. The study team — led by Jeffrey Kahn, a Yale University virologist — has identified the virus as coming from the same "coronavirus" family as the one that causes common colds and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Some Kawasaki experts, however, regard the findings with caution. Among them is Dr. Marian Melish, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, who was among the first researchers in the United States to identify Kawasaki disease, about 30 years ago.
Melish said the identification of any new virus affecting children is interesting but added that the finding requires more study. "It may not be the causative agent for Kawasaki, while it's certainly causing other diseases."
She cited work by a researcher in Chicago who has not found New Haven virus in Kawasaki patients there; similarly, she said, Hawai'i patients will be examined for the virus in coming weeks. Melish said she hopes to have results to report at the International Kawasaki Disease Symposium, set to convene Feb. 17 in San Diego.
Meanwhile, 6-year-old Connor Sonoda, just released from Kapi'olani, is recovering from his bout with the disease, diagnosed Jan. 15 after six days of the characteristic fever and rash. The standard treatment, a 10-hour intravenous drip of a human blood plasma product called gamma globulin, arrested the fever. After a worrisome spike a week ago, he was released.
The episode has left Connor's family less interested in the research about the cause of the disease than in what may lie down the road. "I'm just concerned for the long-term effects," said his father, Derrick. "We really have very little information."
Bloomberg News contributed to this report. Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
Kawasaki disease, which mostly afflicts children of Asian ancestry, is marked by high fever and rash and can lead to heart disease. It's an immune-system response set off by an unknown trigger. Researchers have long suspected that this trigger is infectious but have been unable to identify the specific viral or bacterial cause.
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