Association between a novel human coronavirus and Kawasaki disease

Kawasaki disease is a systemic vasculitis of childhood; its etiology is unknown. We identified evidence of a novel human coronavirus, designated New Haven coronavirus (HCoV-NH), in respiratory secretions from a 6-month-old infant with classic Kawasaki disease. To further investigate the possible association between HCoV-NH infection and Kawasaki disease, we conducted a case-control study. Specimens of respiratory secretions from 8 (72.7%) of 11 children with Kawasaki disease and from 1 (4.5%) of 22 control subjects ( children without Kawasaki disease matched by age and the time the specimens were obtained) tested positive for HCoV-NH by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (Mantel-Haenszel matched odds ratio, 16.0 [95% confidence interval, 3.4-74.4];) P = .0015). These data suggest that HCoV-NH infection is associated with Kawasaki disease.