Introduction: Kawasaki disease is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children. There are some evidences to support that Kawasaki disease comes from immune system dysfunction. However, there are very limited reports exploring the association between them. Thus, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the correlation between Kawasaki disease and allergic diseases in Taiwan children.
Materials and Methods: Patients with past history of documented Kawasaki disease will be enrolled in the study. The standard questionnaire designed by International Study of Asthma and Allergic Childhood (ISSAC) were adopted in this study. Body weight, height, sex, family history of allergic diseases, social economical status, and residential areas will were collected along with the questionnaires.
Results: A total of 157 questionnaires were obtained. As high as 79.2% of these children reported that they had suffered from nasal problems in the past 12 months (relative risk 2.94). Furthermore, nasal problem “ever”, associated itching eyes, and diagnosed rhinitis were all greater than 50%. Wheeze “ever” (RR 1.86), wheezing in last 12 months (RR 2.50), and noctural cough (RR 1.77) reached statistical significance. Patients of Kawasaki disease also showed higher prevalence of atopic dermatitis than general population.
Conclusion: Children with past history of Kawasaki disease had higher risk for developing atopic diseases than general population. Hypersensitivity response might play a role in the pathogenesis of Kawasaki diseases. Further larger scale epidemiological survey would be needed to prove the hypothesis.