The particulate fractions of culture supernatants from peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 39 patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) were examined for the presence of particle-associated reverse transcriptase activity. The peak polymerase activity was significantly higher in cultures from KD patients compared to controls (mean=6.4 versus 3.6 pmol of dTMP incorporated,p=0.001). PBMC cultured between the 3rd and 9th wk after onset of fever were most likely to be associated with reverse transcriptase activity. Peak polymerase activity was positively associated with older age (r=0.41,p=0.01) and greater magnitude of the serum IgA response at 7-14 d after onset of fever (r=0.45,p=0.01) and IgM response at 6-9 wk after onset of fever (r=0.46,p=0.01). The appearance of enzyme activity was not associated with a decrease in viability of the cultured cells. A purified enzyme preparation showed radiolabel incorporation only with an RNA template with DNA primer. These data suggest that circulating mononuclear cells from KD patients may harbor a polymerase-associated agent and that these cells can be most readily detected in the early convalescent phase of KD from older patients who mount a marked humoral immune response.