Results of 12 nationwide epidemiological incidence surveys of Kawasaki disease in Japan

H. Yanagawa, M. Yashiro, Y. Nakamura, T. Kawasaki and H. Kato
Department of Public Health, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi-ken, Japan.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the long-term trend of incidence and other epidemiological pictures of Kawasaki disease in Japan, by using the results of 12 nationwide epidemiological surveys on Kawasaki disease that have been conducted throughout Japan (ie, surveys that have encompassed the pediatric departments of hospitals with more than 100 beds) every 2 years since 1970. RESULTS: At the end of December 1992, the total number of patients with this disease was 116,848 (males, 67,815; females, 49,033; male-female ratio, 1.38). The number of cases increased year by year, with three outbreaks in 1979, 1982, and 1986. There have been no cyclical changes since 1986. The incidence was higher in males and in those children who were 1 year of age or younger. The fatality rate decreased from 1% in 1974 to 0.04% in 1992. CONCLUSIONS: The patterns of descriptive epidemiology, such as seasonality and cyclical changes in incidence, supported the theory of an infectious agent as the causal agent. However, the incidence data since 1986 provide less support for an infectious theory.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Giant coronary aneurysm caused by Kawasaki disease: follow-up with echocardiography and multidetector CT angiography
KHOSITSETH et al.
Br. J. Radiol. 2008;81:e106-e109.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Diagnosis, Treatment, and Long-Term Management of Kawasaki Disease: A Statement for Health Professionals From the Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, American Heart Association
Newburger et al.
Pediatrics 2004;114:1708-1733.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Diagnosis, Treatment, and Long-Term Management of Kawasaki Disease: A Statement for Health Professionals From the Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, American Heart Association
Newburger et al.
Circulation 2004;110:2747-2771.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Rupture of a giant coronary artery aneurysm due to Kawasaki disease
Hwong et al.
Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2004;78:693-695.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

KAWASAKI DISEASE
Maconochie
EDUCATION AND PRACTICE 2004;89:ep3-ep8.
FULL TEXT  

Kawasaki Disease Before Kawasaki at Tokyo University Hospital
Shibuya et al.
Pediatrics 2002;110:e17-17.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Incidence Survey of Kawasaki Disease in 1997 and 1998 in Japan
Yanagawa et al.
Pediatrics 2001;107:33e-33.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Kawasaki Disease: A Brief History
Burns et al.
Pediatrics 2000;106:27e-27.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Recognition and management of Kawasaki disease
Han et al.
CMAJ 2000;162:807-812.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Kawasaki disease
Newburger and Burns
Vasc Med 1999;4:187-202.
ABSTRACT  

Results of the Nationwide Epidemiologic Survey of Kawasaki Disease in 1995 and 1996 in Japan
Yanagawa et al.
Pediatrics 1998;102 :e65-e65.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cardiac Sequelae in Recurrent Cases of Kawasaki Disease: A Comparison Between the Initial Episode of the Disease and a Recurrence in the Same Patients
Nakamura et al.
Pediatrics 1998;102 :e66-e66.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cardiac sequelae of Kawasaki disease among recurrent cases
Nakamura et al.
Arch. Dis. Child. 1998;78:163-165.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT