No. of Kawasaki disease patients exceeds 10,000 for 4 straight yrs

TOKYO, Sept. 12 Kyodo -
Kawasaki disease, an illness that mostly affects children under 4 and the cause
of which is unknown, is spreading in Japan, with more than 10,000 people
developing the disease annually in the past four years, a survey showed
Saturday.
The nationwide survey conducted by researchers led by Jichi Medical University
Professor Yoshikazu Nakamura showed 11,581 people were diagnosed as suffering
from Kawasaki disease in 2007 and 11,756 in 2008, highlighting the upward trend
that has continued in Japan since the mid-1990s.
Patients with Kawasaki disease typically develop a high fever that lasts at
least five days and other symptoms include red eyes, skin rashes and coronary
artery aneurysms that can cause sudden death in serious cases.
The survey showed that 215.3 of every 100,000 children under the age of four
developed the disease in 2007 and 218.6 in 2008.
During the two-year period from 2007 to 2008, six patients died of the disease.
The research team sent questionnaires to 2,102 hospitals with pediatric
departments across the country earlier this year, of which 1,540, or about 73
percent, responded.
==Kyodo