Diagnosing arthritis in children dates back to the mid-1800s. Today, rheumatologists and other kinds of doctors treat several types of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, each with its own symptoms. Two forms of the disease include polyarticular JIA arthritis, or PJIA, and systemic JIA, or SJIA.
SJIA is a rare form of arthritis that affects children. Systemic means that SJIA is a disease that affects the whole body. This can sometimes cause fever, rash, swelling, and pain in the joints. In some children living with SJIA, fever and rash symptoms may appear first, while the joint pain of arthritis happens later.
No one knows the exact cause of SJIA, if it's passed on from family members, or if it starts on its own.
The immune system is complex. It has many different kinds of cells that protect the body by fighting harmful things like bacteria and viruses. When the immune system is not working correctly, it can lead to the signs and symptoms of SJIA.
Systemic JIA is the most rare of the various types of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, or JIA. It's different because the signs and symptoms of SJIA, like fever and rash, commonly affect the whole body and not just the joints.
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