Carpet cleaning and Kawasaki Disease

In 2004, just a month shy of his 4th birthday, Rap was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease. He had measles-like symptoms and had been running a fever for 11 days already before his doctor confirmed the diagnosis. His eyes, lips and mouth were blood red and the skin on his fingers were purplish-blue and peeling. Just like measles, he had rashes, but they were confined to his chest, belly and groin. A day before he was confined, he had trouble walking and didn't want to step on the floor because his feet were painful.

KD left Rap so frail and thin that he had to drink a milk supplement until we reached his weight goal.

Kawasaki Disease (KD) looks like a simple disease judging from its visible symptoms. What we don't see on the surface is what it does to the heart. KD is an autoimmune disease where the blood vessels in the body become inflamed. Left untreated, it can cause the walls of the arteries to weaken and balloon. A treatment of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and aspirin is needed to cure the disease. Since it was already Rap's 11th day of fever when he was finally admitted, his pedia did not recommend him having the expensive IVIG treatment anymore and we just focused on treating his ballooned artery with aspirin. In 2004, a vial of IVIG costs 10 thousand pesos and we needed 10 vials for him.

Thankfully, my boy survived after only a few days in the hospital. He was on aspirin for a month (to thin his blood) and we regularly visited his cardiologist. I started to research about the disease and was able to get in touch with other Filipino parents whose kids have also suffered KD. During our exchange of stories, I noticed that we all had one thing in common - we had carpets at home. That time, our carpet was placed on Rap's play area. He even takes a nap on the carpet. To keep it clean, I shampoo it with a liquid cleaning solution and spray it with anti-dust mite spray.

A study made in Denver in 1982 showed a correlation between carpet cleaning products and Kawasaki Disease. Out of 23 KD kids, 11 had been living in homes with carpets. It was suggested that, being an autoimmune disease, Kawasaki Disease may have been triggered by the toxic chemicals present in detergent and cleaning solutions.

Currently, there is no study to prove that there is a direct association between Kawasaki Disease and carpet cleaning. But to be safe, more and more parents are switching to all-natural carpet cleaning alternatives. Parents who do not have the luxury of time for DIY cleaning leave it to organic carpet cleaning experts such as the Manhattan area rug cleaning service provider, Green Choice. Switching to organic cleaning methods not only prevent toxins from affecting the family but also help in taking care of the environment.

Do you know a child who has had Kawasaki Disease? Is there a carpet in the home of this KD child? Let's tally your responses and see for ourselves if there really is a connection between carpets and Kawasaki Disease.


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