Abstract
Introduction: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute febrile illness of early childhood, characterised by vasculitis of the coronary and medium-sized arteries.
The incidence of the disease differs worldwide, but the incidence of KD has
not been established in Latvia. The aim of the study was to describe the epidemiological characteristics and estimate the incidence rate and resistance
to initial treatment of KD among hospitalised children in Latvia.
Material and methods: The study was a descriptive, population-based
study, which used hospital discharge records of patients < 18 years old diagnosed with KD in the years 2012–2019. Incidence rate was calculated using
the number of KD patients and corresponding national census data.
Results: There were 36 KD patients in Latvia. The median age at admission
was 2.8 years, with 67% of cases under 5 years of age, and the male/female
ratio was 1.3 : 1. The mean annual incidence rate was 1.3 per 100,000 children 0–18 years old, and 2.9 per 100,000 for children < 5 years old. The mean
length of hospital stay was 14 days. Coronary artery dilatation was recorded
in 8% of the patients (all of whom were male). Every patient received intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), with a median of 7 days from fever onset to IVIG
administration. Refractory treatment was reported in 25% of cases.
Conclusions: This is the first epidemiological study of KD in Latvia. The incidence rates are lower than those reported for other European countries.
The percentage of refractory treatment was higher than in other studies.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Archives of Medical Science |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 4 Nov 2020 |
Keywords*
- Kawasaki disease incidence
- refractory Kawasaki disease
- IVIG treatment
Field of Science*
- 3.2 Clinical medicine
Publication Type*
- 1.4. Reviewed scientific article published in Latvia or abroad in a scientific journal with an editorial board (including university editions)