Center for Kawasaki disease
Since 1979 the Division of Infectious Diseases has cared for more than 1,600 children with Kawasaki disease. The Children's Memorial Hospital Center for Kawasaki Disease was established in 1998 and has become well-known nationally and internationally as one of the most active centers in the U.S. for clinical, educational, and research programs related to Kawasaki disease. Our clinician scientists are continuing their research efforts to find the cause of this illness, to improve diagnosis and treatment, and to identify genetic factors that determine who is susceptible to Kawasaki disease.
Kawasaki disease: Finding the cause
The cause of Kawasaki disease is unknown. Scientists around the world have struggled to identify the cause of Kawasaki disease for almost 40 years. This illness looks very much like an infectious disease, and although it does not appear to spread from person-to-person, this may mean that the cause of Kawasaki disease is a very common infectious agent that usually results in very mild or no illness in all but a few genetically susceptible children. Localized outbreaks occasionally occur, as is characteristic of many infectious diseases. The rarity of the illness in the youngest infants suggests that mother's antibodies that babies receive just before birth may protect them from Kawasaki disease. The almost complete absence of Kawasaki disease in adults suggests that by the time they are adults they may have already experienced infection with the Kawasaki disease causative agent without symptoms and they have become immune.
The fact that Kawasaki disease children do not respond to antibiotic therapy suggests a viral rather than a bacterial infection as the cause. We believe that a previously unrecognized virus is the likely cause of Kawasaki disease. To learn more about the evidence to support a new virus as the cause, read about our recent research on this topic.