Long-term Incidence of Kawasaki Disease in a North American Community: A Population-Based Study

To assess the longitudinal incidence of Kawasaki disease (KD) within the well-defined predominantly White population of Olmsted County, MN. This retrospective cohort study used a population-based medical record linkage system and manual chart reviews to identify children with KD in Olmsted County, MN between January 1, 1979-December 31, 2016. Age- and gender-adjusted incidence rates were calculated using the 2010 U.S. White population. 124 children with KD were confirmed during the study period (median age 3.5, 61% male, 85% White, 9% Asian). The overall age- and gender-adjusted incidence rates for all ages and < 5 years old were 9.8 and 21.4 per 100,000 person-years, respectively. There was an overall increase in incidence up to 1994 followed by plateau, except among children between the ages of 1–5 years. There was also an overall increase in incidence among females compared to males. 24% of children had cardiac complications. While the overall incidence of KD in Olmsted County appears to be stable since 1994, the incidence of KD in subgroups of children 1–5 years old and females seems to have increased. Given the rising trends and one-quarter of children developing cardiac complications, further studies identifying factors driving these trends are warranted.