Historical Background of Kawasaki Disease in Korea

The first 50 cases of Kawasaki disease (KD) were reported in 1967 by Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki. In Korea, Park et al. reported the first 5 cases of KD in 1973. In 1970, the Japanese Kawasaki Disease Research Committee was established with support from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and conducted the first Japanese nationwide epidemiological survey on KD that same year. In Korea, the first epidemiological study on KD was conducted by Lee et al. in 1982. The first nationwide epidemiological survey on KD in Korea was conducted by Yoon et al. from 1991 through 1993 and has been subsequently conducted every three years. The Korean Kawasaki Disease Study Group was founded in 2003 under the Korean Pediatric Heart Association. The Korean Society of Kawasaki Disease was established in 2015 and has since been conducting the triennial nationwide epidemiological survey.