KD Info Cube: A puzzle cube for health education

Updated on: Monday, February 06, 2012

Kawasaki Disease Foundation of India (KDFI) is bringing out a health education puzzle-cube, 'KD Info Cube’.

Talking to The Hindu, Dr Saji Philip, pediatric cardiologist and secretary general of the foundation, claimed that the puzzle cube was the first health education device of its kind in the whole world.

Dr Philip who has designed the health education device said the puzzle cube provides information for everyone who wanted to know about Kawasaki Disease.

Kawasaki disease is believed to be the commonest vasculitic disorder found in children. Its incidence rate reported in Japan is as high as 60-150 per every 1,00,000 children below the age of five years. As in many other developing countries, a majority of children with Kawasaki disease continue to remain undiagnosed in India too, says he.

Dr Philip says Health education on Kawasaki disease is very important since it produce very fatal coronary artery disease in kids, if not treated within 20days of acute illness. Children can get heart attack like in adult population due to the disease.

According to him, this cube is designed in such a way that could clear the doubts of parents, kids, and doctors through fun, giving priority to diagnosis and treatment of the disease with appropriate pharmacological agents for prevention of coronary artery in children.

The user-friendly KD-Info Cube that unfolds various key doubts on the Kawasaki Disease will be of great help in early detection and treatment of the disease.

It starts with diagnostic criteria, normogram of coronary artery measurements, additional findings, treatment and follow up advises, including pictures and web addresses of KD foundations for better understanding. Treatment side of the puzzle cube consists of conventional gold standard therapy with intravenous immune-globulin and aspirin with an add on antioxidant therapy, which was proved in animal model studies conducted by Dr Philip himself with high dose of vitamins A,C and E to mitigate the severity of inflammatory changes in coronary arteries and also evidenced from the preliminary unpublished clinical studies.

Dr Philip says the Info Cube will also serve as an easy mode of health education at medical camps and among the parents, teachers, students and nurses at hospitals.

Dr Philip said the features of Kawasaki Disease could be confused with other common conditions like, measles fever, scarlet fever and the Stevens Johnson syndrome, if the clinician is not careful, he said.

Development of coronary artery abnormalities (CAA) is the hallmark of Kawasaki disease and it accounts for most of the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. Prompt recognition of the disease and early treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) results in significant reduction in the occurrence of CAA, he said.

Dr Philip said the cube would be officially released at the 10 International Kawasaki Disease Symposium to be held at Osaka in Japan on February 7, 86th birthday celebrations of Dr Tomisaku Kawasaki.

Dr Philip will be attending the symposium, representing KDFI.

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