Epidemiologic study of Kawasaki disease in Korea.

The cumulative number of K.D. patients for the past 15 years in Korea was 2,224. There were two epidemics, in winter of 1979 and summer of 1983. The increase in patient numbers accelerated remarkably after each epidemic. This disease had a tendency to occur in urban areas with high density of population and was more likely to occur in male infants under two years of age than in females. When it is taken into consideration that the first and second epidemics occurred in this country at intervals of seven months and 1 1/4 years, respectively, after epidemics in Japan, it is possible that the third epidemic in Korea may occur in the near future, in view of the large epidemic in Japan in the beginning of 1986.