Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki, who in 1967 first identified a disease in children that remains mysterious today and that has recently been in the news in relation to Covid-19, died on June 5 in Tokyo. The illness, which produces inflammation around the heart and can be fatal, became known as Kawasaki disease. The Kawasaki Disease Foundation, which promotes education and research, posted news of Dr. Kawasaki’s death on its website. Dr. Kawasaki was a pediatrician in a Tokyo hospital in 1961 when he examined a 4-year-old boy who had a high fever, red eyes and a red rash, among other symptoms. “I asked another pediatrician, an old medical school teacher, had he ever experienced such cases?” Dr. Kawasaki told The San Diego Union-Tribune in 1991.

Source: New York Times June 17, 2020 20:26 UTC