Evaluation of Epstein ? Barr Virus in Kawasaki Patients in an Iranian Referral Hospital

Introduction: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute febrile systemic vasculitis with unknown etiological agent. It had been suggested that KD might be closely associated with an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The present study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the correlation between EBV and KD. Material and methods: This study was carried out on 41 patients that fulfilled the criteria and 50 control individuals in an Iranian referral Children's Medical Center Hospital. Results: In our study, 11 KD patients (27%) and 19 control cases (38%) were polymerase chain reaction positive respectively. In addition, 15 KD patients (36.5%) and 16 control cases (32%) were seropositive. These results indicated no significant statistical correlation between KD and EBV. Conclusion: No association was found between KD and EBV and KD children seem to be infected with EBV similar to normal children of the same age.