Epidemiology of Kawasaki disease in Italy: surveillance from national hospitalization records

Kawasaki disease is a systemic vasculitis with an acute and self-limited course. The incidence of the disease differs widely among ethnic groups and is higher in the Asian populations. In Italy, no recent data are available. We studied the epidemiology of Kawasaki disease in the years 2008-2013 in children 0-14 years old in Italy using hospital ICD-9 discharge codes with a thorough data cleaning for duplicates in order to select the first hospital admission for the disease. The disease peaked in the first 2 years of life, with 85.5% of cases under 5 years. Male/female ratio was 1.4:1. The incidence rate was 5.7 per 100,000 children 0-14 years old and 14.7 for children younger than 5 years. The incidence rose slightly during the study period and had a seasonal distribution, with higher incidence in spring. A coronary artery aneurysm was recorded in 2.2% of the patients younger than 5 years of age. CONCLUSION: This is the first epidemiologic study on Kawasaki disease incidence in the country of Italy. Figures are in line but slightly higher than those reported for other European countries. What is known: • Kawasaki disease is more common in Asian populations. • European incidence data are scarce. What is new: • Epidemiological data in Italy show similar incidence, albeit slightly higher, than in other European countries. • Incidence data slightly rose in the recent past.