Epidemiology of Kawasaki disease in Japan.

Kawasaki disease was first described by Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki in 1967. This disease is an acute, febrile illness primarily affecting infants and children younger than 4 years old. Although this disease is characterized by systemic vasculitis, the etiology is still unknown. To clarify the epidemiologic features of Kawasaki disease, nationwide surveys have been conducted since 1970. Approximately 186,000 patients were identified in 17 surveys completed prior to 2002 based on similar diagnostic criteria. From the results of these surveys, not only the disease distributions, such as annual or monthly changes and geographical shift, but also the clinical characteristics of this disease were clarified. Epidemiologic studies of this disease in Japan provide useful results for physicians and researchers around the world who are involved in treating Kawasaki disease.