title: Kawasaki disease and subsequent risk of allergic diseases: a population-based matched cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The risk of allergic diseases among Kawasaki disease (KD) patients relative to the general population is not known. The aim of this study was to perform a population-based cohort study to investigate the risk of allergic diseases among children after KD in Taiwan- a country with the third highest incidence of KD in the world.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. In total, 253 patients who were 5 years of age or younger and had a first-time hospitalization with a diagnosis of KD between 1997 and 2005 were included as the study cohort and 1,012 non-KD patients matched for age and sex were included as comparison cohort. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to adjust for confounding and to compare the 6-year allergic-free survival rate between these two cohorts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence rate of allergic diseases (184.66 per 1000 person-year) was significantly higher in the KD cohort than in the control cohort (124.99 per 1000 person-years). After adjusting for potential confounders, the adjusted hazard ratios of asthma and allergic rhinitis were 1.51 (95% confidence interval = 1.17-1.95) and 1.30 (95% confidence interval = 1.04-1.62), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that KD patients were at an increased risk for allergic diseases compared with the comparison cohort.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ho-Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Wei-Chiao
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Kuender D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hong-Ren
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Chih-Lu
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shu-Chen
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Chun-Yuh
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology