Kawasaki disease causes

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Dildar Hussain, MBBS [2]

Overview

The exact cause of Kawasaki disease has not been identified. The current etiological theories center primarily on immunological causes for the disease. Much research has been carried out to discover a definitive toxin or antigenic substance, possibly a superantigen, to be established as the specific cause of the disease. There are several hypotheses for the cause of Kawasaki disease – infectious agents which are thought to induce Kawasaki disease include parvovirus B19, meningococcal septicemia, adenovirus, bacterial toxin–mediated, superantigens, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, human lymphotropic virus, klebsiella pneumoniae, mycoplasma pneumoniae, mite-associated bacteria, measles, propionibacterium acnes, parainfluenza type 3 virus, rotavirus infection, rickettsia species, and tick-borne diseases.

The exact cause of Kawasaki disease has not been identified.
The current etiological theories center primarily on immunological causes for the disease.
Studies have failed to discover a definitive toxin or antigenic substance to be the causative agent.
An unknown virus may play a role as an inciting factor as well.
There are several hypotheses regarding the causality of Kawasaki disease.
Infectious agents which are thought to induce Kawasaki disease are:^[1]^[2]^[3]
- Parvovirus B19
- Meningococcal septicemia
- Adenovirus
- Bacterial toxin–mediated superantigens
- Cytomegalovirus
- Epstein-Barr virus
- Human lymphotropic virus
- Klebsiella pneumoniae
- Mycoplasma pneumoniae
- Mite-associated bacteria
- Measles
- Propionibacterium acnes
- Parainfluenza type 3 virus
- Rotavirus
- Rickettsia species
- Tick-borne diseases

↑ Pinna GS, Kafetzis DA, Tselkas OI, Skevaki CL (June 2008). “Kawasaki disease: an overview”. Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. 21 (3): 263–70. doi:10.1097/QCO.0b013e3282fbf9cd. PMID 18448971.
↑ Yanagawa H, Nakamura Y, Yashiro M, Ojima T, Tanihara S, Oki I, Zhang T (December 1998). “Results of the nationwide epidemiologic survey of Kawasaki disease in 1995 and 1996 in Japan”. Pediatrics. 102 (6): E65. PMID 9832593.
↑ Sundel, Robert P. (2015). “Kawasaki Disease”. Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. 41 (1): 63–73. doi:10.1016/j.rdc.2014.09.010. ISSN 0889-857X.