Almost 300 children from 20 countries contracted hepatitis of unknown etiology in recent weeks. A dozen or so small patients required a liver transplant. Four children died, informs WHO.
Dangerous and mysterious hepatitis in children
Published May 6, 2022 14:21
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The first reports of a mysterious liver disease in children appeared in early April in the UK. Each week, the British Health Security Agency (UKHSA) informed about dozens of confirmed cases.
The total number of cases in the UK is around 150, and around the world - almost 300. Children under 5 years of age are mostly affected, and up to 10 years of age less frequently. The lowest incidence is among older children.
The most common symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting, increased levels of aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine aminotransaminase (ALT), and jaundice. Most of the patients did not develop fever. The overwhelming majority of children were completely healthy before becoming ill.
No patients were diagnosed with known hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, D, E). Specialists suspect that adenovirus (possibly F41) may be behind the disease. Other hypotheses, such as the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection or environmental (non-infectious) causes, are also thoroughly investigated.
The observed symptoms are not typical of usually mildly progressing adenoviral infections, however, the pathogen from this group was detected in more than half of the patients (in some it was a co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus).
Most of the patients are children living in the UK, and the remaining cases mainly concern European countries, incl. Spain, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, France.
Hepatitis of unknown etiology has also been found in Poland. According to the data of the National Institute of Hygiene, 14 of them have recently been detected, but it has not been stated how many of them concern children.
Sources: WHO/OutbreakNews/MedOnet
