Increased Incidence and Severity of Kawasaki Disease Among Filipino-Americans in San Diego County

Abstract

This study compared characteristics of Kawasaki disease (KD) in Filipino and non-Filipino children. Filipino KD patients had a higher coronary artery Z-score (P = 0.016) and aneurysm rate (P = 0.021) than KD patients of non-Filipino Asian and non-Asian descent.

Kawasaki Disease Outcomes and Response to Therapy in a Multiethnic Community: A 10-Year Experience

“…The increased severity of disease and less favorable coronary artery outcomes in our Asian/Pacific Islander patients may be related, at least in part, to the high percentage of Filipino children (34%) who were previously reported to have a more severe disease course compared with other groups. 18 The small numbers of patients, however, precluded a meaningful subgroup analysis of the different Asian populations (Figure 3). Despite the less favorable outcome, Asian/Pacific Islander patients did not have a higher rate of IVIG resistance compared with other racial/ethnic groups.…”

ITPKC and CASP3 polymorphisms and risks for IVIG unresponsiveness and coronary artery lesion formation in Kawasaki disease

“…Furthermore, rates of IVIG non-responders or CAL formation differ among reports from different ethnic groups. [5][6][7][8]19,20 Thus, some host genetic factors must influence the clinical severity of KD. Many researchers who recognize this issue have repeatedly examined the association of candidate genetic variations with CAL formation and IVIG unresponsiveness.…”

History of the worldwide emergence of Kawasaki disease

“…Surprisingly, in the Philippines there was largely consensus among pediatrician and cardiologist interviewees that Dr. Luis Mobilangan diagnosed the first case in the Philippines in 1982. 15 In India, there was lively debate as to whether KD was a new disease versus an old disease hidden among the myriad of rash/fever illnesses including measles and rheumatic fever. 16,17 However, in interviews with senior pediatricians in India, there was consensus that the clinical features of KD were distinct from other pediatric illnesses and even physicians who had been in practice for over half a century recalled their first case of KD (https://www.youtube.c om/Kawasakidisease 'The Eyes Cannot See What the Mind Does Not Know').…”