A Study on the Association between Kawasaki Disease and Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection

The etiology of Kawasaki disease (KD) remains unknown, although severeal infectious agents have been proposed as potential causes. Some studies suggested association between KD and Mycoplasma pneumoniae(MP) infection. This retrospective study analyzed the association between KD and MP infection. Subjects were 36 patients with KD who admitted to the Bundang Jesaeng General Hospital from January 2013？ through August 2014. Patients were assigned to one of two groups, the MP？and control group, based on the results of anti-mycoplasmal IgM antibody (AMA) test. Clinical features, laboratory findings, courses and outcomes of the illness were compared between the two groups. The results of AMA tests were positive or indeterminate in 11 patients (30.6%; MP group) and negative in 25 (69.4%; control group). There were no significant differences between the two groupos with respect to age and sex distributions, duration of fever, laboratory results, chet roentgenographic findings, and echocardiographic findings. AMA titers were rechecked in 6 patients in the MP groupo, of who titer decreased in 5 patients (83.3%) and increased in 1？(16.7%). Although AMA titer were positive in some patients with KD, it did not appear to influence clinical feature, laboratory findings, and courses and outcomes of the illness. AMA titers decreased in the follow-up measurements in most patients in the MP group, suggesting that positive AMA titers were related to previous infections rather than concurrent infections, thus reducing the likelihood of MP infection being a causative factor for KD