Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, including the kidneys, lungs, and heart. It can be difficult to diagnose in children, but symptoms may include fevers, body aches, and loss of appetite. Diagnostic tests may be needed to confirm the disease.
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the body’s connective tissue and known to affect a number of parts of the body, including the kidneys, lungs, brain, heart, blood vessels and joints. It can affect people of any age, including young children, but is most often diagnosed between the ages of 12 and 44. Lupus in children can be difficult to diagnose because symptoms can resemble those of other, less serious illnesses, such as the flu. Common early symptoms include frequent fevers, body aches, fatigue, and loss of appetite.
The first signs may appear and progress gradually. Symptoms can also be intermittent: a child may feel very sick for a few days and then appear completely normal. This is because lupus in children can flare up at certain times, causing severe symptoms, then go into remission, sometimes for long periods of time. Even the adult form of the disease can have these periods of remission and relapse.
Although about 90% of people with the disease are female, the number of cases in boys and girls who have not reached puberty is split fairly evenly between the sexes. Lupus in children usually develops similar to lupus in adults, with many of the same symptoms and characteristics. More distinctive symptoms may appear as lupus in children progresses.
One of the best-known signs of the disease is called butterfly rash, which appears on the nose and cheeks, often after a child has been in the sun. In some cases, a rash may also develop on the chest. Stiff or swollen joints, intermittent mouth sores, and hair loss are some other possible signs of lupus in children. A condition called Reynaud’s syndrome, which causes hands to turn red, white, or blue when exposed to cold, could also be a symptom. A child with Reynaud’s, however, may not necessarily have lupus.
Lupus can be difficult to diagnose because it affects people so differently. If the disease is suspected in a child, a series of diagnostic tests may be needed to confirm it. Blood and urine tests may be done to look for a variety of antibodies that are typically specific to lupus sufferers. Other tests can sometimes show which organs and parts of the body are affected by the disease. In children, regular monitoring can sometimes predict a flare-up before it happens, so symptoms can be treated or sometimes prevented entirely.
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