A meta-analysis on association between viral infections and Kawasaki disease in children

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the association between different viral infections and the development of Kawasaki disease (KD) in children. Materials & methods: Electronic databases were searched for relevant studies published from inception to May 2020. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) of the association of different viral pathogens with KD were estimated using a random-effects model weighted by the inverse variance method. Results: The strongest associations were found between KD and human parvovirus B19 viremia (OR = 41.05; 95% CI: 5.13–328.28; I-square = 0%), EBV IgM seropositivity (OR = 7.18; 95% CI: 3.65–14.12, I-square = 0%) and human herpesvirus-6 IgG seropositivity (OR = 5.83; 95% CI: 1.06–32.01). Conclusion: Human parvovirus B19, EBV and human herpesvirus-6 are highly suspected to be key contributors to the development of KD.