Kawasaki disease in India: increasing awareness or increased incidence?

Abstract

Reports of Kawasaki disease (KD) throughout India are increasing. This article addresses the question of whether the increased diagnosis of KD in India represents the emerging recognition of an illness that had been previously obscured by misdiagnosis, or whether KD is new to India and is increasing in incidence.Whichever answer turns out to be correct, the burden of KD is likely to pose a significant challenge to the health-care system in India in the coming years, due to the high cost of treatment and the potential for lifelong cardiovascular sequelae.Moreover, elucidating the factors that have contributed to the increased recognition of KD in India may provide useful insights for the continuing search for the etiology of KD worldwide.