All issues > Volume 45(7); 2002

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 2002;45(7):896-901. Published online July 15, 2002.

Epidemiological Study of Kawasaki Disease in Kyung Nam Area

Jeong Soo JS Yang¹, Eun Young EY Cho¹, Hae Sung HS Jung¹, Ji Young JY Hwang¹, Dong-Jin DJ Lee², Eun Suk ES No³, Myoung-Bum MB Choi¹, Chan-Hoo CH Park¹, Hee-Shang HS Youn¹, Hyang-Ok HO Woo¹

¹Departments of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Chinju, Korea
²Department of Pediatrics, Dong Kang General Hospital, Ulsan, Korea
³Department of Pediatrics, Sungkunkwan University School of Medicine, Masan, Korea

Correspondence Hyang-Ok HO Woo ,Email: howoo@gshp.gsnu.ac.kr

Abstract

Purpose
: The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiology of Kawasaki disease in the Kyung Nam area and to evaluate whether the results of this epidemiological study could support infectious etiology.
Methods
: We sent a questionnaire to three training hospitals in the Kyung Nam area and retrospectively reviewed their medical records of Kawasaki disease from Jun. 1995 to Dec. 1999.
Results
: The total number of patients was 717 cases, with little differences of annual prevalence during the five years. In all cases, the monthly prevalence of Kawasaki disease was high in Apr. and Jul. At the eastern of Kyung Nam, the monthly prevalence was high in Apr. and Jul. in 1995 and 1996, Jul. in 1997, Apr. in 1998 and Apr. and Jul. in 1999. In the central area of Kyung Nam, the monthly prevalence was high in Apr. in 1995 and 1996, Apr. and Jul. in 1997 and Jul. in 1998 and 1999. In the western Kyung Nam, the monthly prevalence was high in Nov. in 1995, Aug. in 1996, Oct. in 1997, Dec. in 1998 and Nov. in 1999.
Conclusion
: In the eastern and central areas of Kyung Nam, the monthly prevalence of Kawasaki disease was similarly high in Apr. and Jul. However, in the western district, the prevalence was high in late fall and winter. We could not prove the hypothesis that Kawasaki disease occurred with the spread of single infectious agent, but the a nnually similar prevalence in eastern and central Kyung Nam supported the infection theory for the etiology of the disease.

Keywords :Kawasaki disease, Epidemiology