Kawasaki Syndrome: Description of Two Outbreaks in the United States

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Abstract
Investigation of two outbreaks of Kawasaki syndrome (KS) in the United States in 1979 and in 1980 revealed no evidence of person-to-person transmission or of a common-source exposure among patients. Questionnaire data showed that KS was more likely to occur in children of middle and upper socioeconomic status than in those of lower status (P<0.05 and P<0.001 for the respective outbreaks) and that patients with KS had a higher incidence of an antecedent, primarily respiratory illness than did controls matched for age, sex, and race (83 per cent of patients in the first outbreak vs. 30 per cent of one control group, P<0.01, and vs. 36 per cent of another control group, P<0.02; and 56 per cent of patients in the second outbreak vs. 32 per cent of their controls, P<0.02). However, laboratory studies did not identify an etiologic agent for either KS or for the antecedent illness that may be a risk factor for KS. (N Engl J Med. 1981; 304:1568–75.)