The epidemiology of Kawasaki disease: a global update

Abstract

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a childhood vasculitis and the most frequent cause of paediatric acquired heart disease in North America, Europe and Japan. It is increasingly recognised in rapidly industrialising countries such as China and India where it may replace rheumatic heart disease as the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children. We review the current global epidemiology of KD and discuss some public health implications.

Kawasaki disease: etiopathogenesis and novel treatment strategies

“…Kawasaki disease predominantly affects young children, mostly below 5 years of age, with 1.5-times higher risk in boys than girls [5]. The epidemiological patterns are quite distinct in different geographical locations, with variations in incidence based on ethnicities and season.…”

“…In Europe, incidence is highest in the winters. One hypothesis for this variation was suggested by Singh et al [5]. These researchers hypothesized that KD might be triggered by an airborne agent in Central Asia which is then blown to different geographical locations to cause KD by gaining entry in the body through the respiratory tract.…”

Paediatric overdiagnosis modelled by coronary abnormality trends in Kawasaki disease

“…We hypothesised that coronary artery (CA) abnormalities diagnosed among children with Kawasaki disease (KD), an acute childhood vasculitis that is a leading cause of acquired heart disease,9 might fit the overdiagnosis model for the following reasons: (1) the US 2004 KD guideline recommended early and repetitive echocardiography at diagnosis, 2 and 8 weeks postdiagnosis and more often if abnormalities are noted,10 (2) the majority of detected CA abnormalities resolve within months of the acute KD illness11 and (3) the least severe forms of CA abnormalities appear to be increasingly diagnosed 12 13. The present study evaluates CA abnormalities in the context of a model testing for overdiagnosis by comparing the rate of CA abnormality diagnoses to the rate of adverse cardiac outcomes over time among American children with KD.…”

Kawasaki disease – the journey over 50 years: 1967–2017

“…3 KD is identified as the most common vasculitis of childhood and is also the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children in several Asian countries (e.g., Japan, Korea, Taiwan from where accurate nationwide data are available), Europe, North America and Australia. 4 Various epidemiologic trends showed that the incidence of KD is increasing in several developing countries as well, as for instance China and India. 5,6 What is of concern to all pediatricians is the fact that coronary artery abnormalities can occur in as many as 15-25% of patients if KD is left undiagnosed and untreated.…”