Name: Cardo Dalisay Date: 09/05/2023

Section: BSA 3A

Epidemiology
In the past, the illness may have masqueraded in various guises, and
old reports on infantile polyarteritis nodosa in Western countries
describe pathological findings identical to those of fatal KD. 4–8 First
described in Japan, KD has now been described worldwide. 9–
17
However, the disease is markedly more prevalent in children in
Japan, where the annual incidence was 243.1 per 100 000 children <5
years of age in 2011 and 264.8 per 100 000 in 2012. The greater
susceptibility of children of Japanese ancestry to KD is also evidenced
by epidemiological data from Hawaii, where children of Japanese
descent had the highest incidence (210.5 per 100 000 children <5
years of age); white children had the lowest incidence (13.7 per 100
000 children <5 years of age).18 In the continental United States, the
incidence of KD has been best estimated from hospital discharge data
at ≈25 per 100 000 children <5 years of age.19–21 An estimated 5523
hospitalizations associated with KD occurred in the United States in
2006, at a mean age of 3 years, for an annual incidence of 20.8 per
100 000 children <5 years of age.21 The incidence was highest among
Asians and Pacific Islanders (30.3 per 100 000 children <5 years of
age) and in boys versus girls (24.2 versus 16.8,
respectively).21 Epidemiological comparisons between countries and
regions should be viewed in light of often differing methods and
completeness of case ascertainment and reporting.