According to the latest estimates from the European Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), there are at least 194 possible and confirmed cases reported worldwide, with the exception of an unknown number of possible cases in Canada. Here’s what we know so far about these cases.
WHAT IS HEPATITIS?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. The organ may be damaged or inflamed as a result of a virus, heavy drinking, toxins, certain medications, or other health conditions. The liver performs many basic functions and acts as a filter for the blood that leaves the stomach and intestines. It regulates the levels of chemicals in the blood, creates nutrients, removes waste, helps fight infections and much more. Acute hepatitis is when liver function is impaired for less than six months. Chronic hepatitis is when the inflammation lasts longer. Some cases of hepatitis can be serious – even fatal – if left untreated. Other cases may be mild and do not require treatment. What makes these cases of acute hepatitis unusual is that doctors have not determined their cause.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
Medical officials said some cases started with gastrointestinal symptoms such as stomach aches, diarrhea and vomiting. The children later developed signs of jaundice, where the skin and whites around the eyes turn yellow. Jaundice is a sign that something is wrong with the liver and you should seek medical advice immediately. Other common symptoms of hepatitis include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, dark urine, light stools and joint pain. Dr Deirdre Kelly, a professor of pediatric hepatology at the University of Birmingham, told CTV News on Tuesday that the majority of children had recovered spontaneously. “Although this is a serious illness if their child develops it, chances are they will recover on their own,” he said.
HOW MANY GLOBAL CASES AND HOW SERIOUS ARE THEY?
According to figures compiled by the ECDC in a report on 28 April and the WHO on 23 April, there are at least 194 cases of hepatitis without a known cause in countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, the United States and Denmark. Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway and France. As of April 21, 114 cases were from the United Kingdom, according to the WHO. “As of April 27, there were” approximately 55 possible and confirmed cases “from twelve countries within the European Union and the European Economic Area, 12 cases from the US and another 12 from Israel, the ECDC said. Japan reported a case. “Severe hepatitis for which there is no cause, we rarely see more than about 20, 25 max throughout the year. “And we’ve seen 114 in the first three to four months of this year,” Kelly said. “These are completely normal children. “They have no comorbidities and other infections and develop severe hepatitis, of which 10 percent needed a liver transplant.” The 10 percent figure is based on a previous case count by the WHO on April 23 that found 17 children needed liver transplants. A child has reportedly died in Britain. Hepatitis cases affect children between the ages of one month and 16 years, health services said, with the majority occurring in young children between the ages of two and five. Scotland’s public health service was the first to sound the alarm about these unusual cases of hepatitis in early April, after one child fell ill in January and another nine in March. They were all seriously ill and had to be transported to the hospital where they were diagnosed with hepatitis. The majority of similar cases in the United States were found in nine previously healthy children between the ages of one and six from Alabama. Two of the children reportedly needed liver transplants. Five children with significant liver damage of unknown origin, including some with acute liver failure, have been admitted to a children’s hospital in Alabama as early as October 2021. Two more serious cases were reported in North Carolina and three in Illinois, with local media reporting that one resulted in a liver transplant and two others were on a transplant list.
ARE THERE CASES IN CANADA?
Although there are no confirmed cases in Canada, the Public Health Service of Canada (PHAC) had previously told CTV News that it was “aware of reports of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in young children in Canada.” “[PHAC] “It is working with its international partners, as well as with provincial and territorial partners, to gather information on this evolving situation,” the agency told CTV News in an email on Friday. “Possible cases in Canada are being further investigated to determine if they are related to cases in the United Kingdom and the United States.”
WHAT CERTAIN THEORIES ARE EXPLORED?
Health authorities are investigating a number of possible causes for these cases of hepatitis. So far, the WHO has ruled out viruses that cause hepatitis A, B, C, D and E, based on laboratory tests. While exposure to toxins is another issue, experts believe this is less likely due to the documented cases in different countries. Health authorities also found no connection to international travel between the cases. Currently, research suggests an association with an adenovirus, according to the WHO and the ECDC. Adenoviruses are a large family of viruses that can be transmitted from person to person, causing a number of diseases such as colds, pink eyes and gastroenteritis. Officials say there has been a recent increase in adenovirus infections, especially in the UK Nearly half of all hepatitis cases, including those in Alabama, have been linked to adenovirus, with laboratory tests showing that some children were infected with type 41, which is associated with gastroenteritis, causing diarrhea and vomiting. At least 19 cases also involved SARS-CoV-2 infection. “While adenovirus is currently a hypothesis as the underlying cause, it does not fully explain the severity of the clinical picture,” the WHO said in its April 23 report. The health service noted that the virus has not been linked to hepatitis in the past, adding that it is a common pathogen that usually causes self-limiting infections. COVID-19 is also being tested, although some of the cases did not involve a previously known infection. “We do not really know the causes and even COVID may be involved in some cases,” he said. Simon Taylor-Robinson, professor and liver researcher at Imperial College London, formerly at CTV’s Your Morning. “In fact, we know that COVID can cause inflammation in any part of the body, not just the lungs.” Another theory being considered is that children’s immune systems, which weaken during lockdown and pandemic distancing, may be more vulnerable to other diseases. It is also possible that two viruses that work “in coordination” with each other are behind the cases of hepatitis, say some health experts. Researchers are also investigating the possibility that the adenovirus may have mutated.
CAN VACCINES BE THE CAUSE FOR COVID-19?
Despite the misinformation circulating on social media suggesting a link between hepatitis cases and COVID-19 vaccinations, health authorities have definitively ruled out COVID-19 vaccination as a possible cause because they say the vast majority of cases concerns children who are too young to be eligible for vaccinations. “None of the currently confirmed cases in the UK have been vaccinated,” a spokesman for the UK Health Insurance Agency told Reuters. “There is no link to the COVID-19 vaccine.”
WHAT CAN PARENTS DO?
Adenoviruses are transmitted through close personal contact such as touch, through the air by coughing and sneezing or by touching infected objects and surfaces and then touching areas of the face before washing your hands. In some cases, it can also be spread through the feces of an infected person, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Daily measures such as hand washing and general hygiene measures, along with those adopted during the pandemic, should help, experts say, adding that the sudden onset of severe hepatitis without a known cause is still rare despite current global cases. “They should be (reassured) that it is relatively uncommon in normal children and that good hand hygiene, as we are all accustomed to in the COVID pandemic, and good general hygiene at home should be adequate,” according to Kelly. . With files from CTV National News reporter Vanessa Lee, Reuters and the Associated Press
