Epidemiological Survey of Kawasaki Disease during 1995-2000 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, The Peoples' Republic of China

Abstract

Objective. To describe the incidence and characteristics of Kawasaki Disease (KD) during 1995-2000 in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, The Peoples' Republic of China. Methods. Questionnaires were sent to all hospitals in Harbin, with pediatric beds requesting information on any patients with a Final Diagnosis of Kawasaki Disease. The information requested followed the Questionnaire designed by the Japanese Kawasaki Disease Research Group and included: gender, date of birth, date of initial hospital visit, date of discharge from hospital, final diagnosis, whether the patient had been treated with gammaglobulin and whether there were any cardiac sequelae in 1month of onset. Results. Of the 29 hospitals canvassed in Harbin, 93% responded, reporting 98 cases of Kawasaki Disease during the period January 1995 to December 2000, (56 males and 42 females). Male/female ratio was 1.3. More than a haalf of the patients (51.02%) were under the age of two years and 86.7% of all patients were less than fibe years of age. The average yealy incidence under the age of five years was 5.32 per 100,000 children. More cases were reported in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and there ware more patients occurred in the spring and summer. Gammaglobulin was given to 72.4% of the cases. Only 6.1% of all cases developed cardiac sequelae, as recognized by ultrasound cardograms. There was no death reported. Conclusion. The incidence rate of KD has increased in Harbin since 1998, and was higher than that in other areas of China, but lower than that in Japan. Most of the patients were <5 years old, and more were male. The number of patients was higher in the spring and summer. The proportion of patients with cardiac sequelae was lower than that reported in other areas of China and Japan.