Disease vs Syndrome
“A syndrome is a recognizable complex of symptoms and physical findings which indicate a specific condition for which a direct cause is not necessarily understood. Thus in practice doctors refer to the infamous “viral syndrome” as such because of the uncertainty regarding the legion of viral agents that is causing the illness. Once medical science identifies a causative agent or process with a fairly high degree of certainty, physicians may then refer to the process as a disease, not a syndrome. Mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome became Kawasaki syndrome which in turn metamorphosed into Kawasaki disease; the latter is properly a disease, no longer a syndrome, by virtue of its clearly identifiable diagnostic features and disease progression, and response to specific treatment.”