Kawasaki syndrome in Jamaica

Abstract

There is a tendency for late recognition and, hence, failure of treatment of Kawasaki syndrome in Jamaica. Greater awareness of the condition needs to be implemented. The finding of female children with an increased occurrence of coronary abnormalities warrants further investigation.

Kawasaki disease in New Zealand

“…The need to give IVIG early will invariably result in this treatment being administered inappropriately to some children who have viral exanthematous illnesses and not KD. The spectrum of physical findings observed in our study group was similar to those seen in the national studies from the UK, Australia, and Jamaica 9,10 , 15 (Table 5) .…”

“…It is also possible, although we believe unlikely, that large proximal coronary artery aneurysms greater than 4 mm were missed. The incidence of coronary artery changes is similar to studies from the UK where 24%, Australia 26%, and Jamaica 28% were so affected 9,10 , 15 . In most instances the coronary dilatation affecting our cases was relatively minor and had resolved by the time of the second or third scans.…”

“…Kawasaki disease in New Zealand is primarily a disorder affecting pre‐school children. The age distribution and male preponderance from this study are similar to reports from Australia, the UK, USA, Japan and Jamaica 9,10 , 13–15 . Cases were reported every month throughout the year with no clearly defined geographical or seasonal trend.…”

“…The age distribution and male preponderance from this study are similar to reports from Australia, the UK, USA, Japan and Jamaica. 9,10,[13][14][15] Cases were reported every month throughout the year with no clearly defined geographical or seasonal trend. There was no evidence of an epidemic pattern such as observed in Japan in the 1980s.…”

“…Such cases will of necessity be less likely to receive rapid diagnosis and treatment. Table 5 indicates 1993-5 139 2 2 1.4% 0-5% Jamaica 15 1986-1998 98 0 0 0% 0-4% USA 23 1997 & 2000 4248 0 0 0% 0-0.08% that such fatal cases worldwide are often diagnosed only at postmortem, and contribute disproportionately to case fatality rates. Of the nine cases diagnosed post-mortem in Table 5, at least four were 'atypical'.…”