Cases of acute childhood hepatitis of unknown originwhich emerged in the United Kingdom and has already been confirmed in a dozen countries, amount to 190, reported Tuesday the European Center for Prevention and Control of Diseases (ECDC).
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“Investigations are underway in all countries that have confirmed casesbut at the moment the cause of this hepatitis is still unknown,” the director of this reference body for infections of the European Union (EU), Andrea Ammon, told a press conference.
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In the United Kingdom, where the alert was given last day 5, More than a hundred cases have been detected and forty correspond to ten countries of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), including Spain, to which must be added those registered in the United States and Israel.
The investigations of these cases, which have caused one death and about twenty liver transplants, point to a “link” with an infection caused by an adenovirus, while viral hepatitis of types A, B, C, D and E.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had expressed concern three days ago that an adenovirus, normally associated with mild respiratory ailments, may be causing acute liver inflammation.
It is difficult to make a risk assessment with so many unknown factors, but the impact is high.
The ECDC, which will release a new analysis of the disease this Thursday, said it will continue to monitor cases and collaborate with the health authorities of the respective countries.
“So far no connection between the cases or any association with travel has been detected.s,” Ammon said of an illness whose symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting.
In his appearance, which coincides with immunization week in Europe, Ammon also reported on the latest news about the coronavirus pandemic on the continent, characterized by a reduction in contagion and mortality, while vaccination is not making significant progress. .
Alert in Japan
The Japanese health authorities are investigating a potential case of the new acute childhood hepatitis of unknown origin that has already been detected in 13 other countries and that totals about 170 confirmed cases so far.
“We have been informed that a possible case has been detected after hospitalization,” Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said during his daily press conference on Tuesday.
Matsuno pointed out that Japan is among the countries that are investigating this hepatitis of unknown origin that is being detected mainly in children under 10 years of age, and that the country is analyzing the case “based on the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO)”.
When tested for hepatitis A to E, adenovirus and covid, all results were negative.
The patient in question, about whom not many details have been provided, is a minor of 16 years of age or younger.
According to local media, the Ministry of Health was informed about it on the 21st following a notification from the hospital to the local authorities.
According to the WHO, the age of those affected currently ranges between one month and 16 years, in most cases they do not have fever, and in none of them have the normal viruses associated with these ailments been detected (hepatitis A, B, C, D and E). The Japanese minor has not required a liver transplant, as has been the case in other patients.
The Japanese government spokesman said his government “will continue to monitor the situation in other countries and cooperate closely with the WHO on the evolution of cases of this childhood hepatitis.”
The first ten cases of the new acute hepatitis under study were reported by the UK to the WHO on April 5, in previously healthy children under 10 years of age.
Faced with this anomalous rise in cases, the organization has asked the health networks that have identified some and other countries to continue investigations and take preventive measures.
The WHO does not recommend taking restrictive measures on international travel, since for now it has not identified that they are related to the proliferation of cases.
The United States investigates the cases
At least six US states reported confirmed or suspected cases of a liver disorder serious and unexplained disease in children that has been detected in countries around the world.
Delaware officials confirmed one case in a child, according to an emailed statement, adding to earlier reports from Alabama, North Carolina and Illinois.
health officials in the state of New York and Wisconsin said they are investigating reports of hepatitis that match a description published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
More than 190 cases of severe pediatric hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver, have been reported in children with no existing health problems in around a dozen countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.
The disorder has been seen primarily in children under the age of 10 and has left some needing liver transplants.
Researchers are studying links to infection with adenoviruses, a family of pathogens that most commonly cause cold-like symptoms, as well as Covid-19.
The researchers are still compiling reports of the disease, and it’s too early to say it’s causing the series of illnesses, Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview.
“It’s still a mystery,” Fauci said. “It appears to be associated with adenovirus, but it’s not certain.”
Reports of suspected cases in the US began to surface last week after the CDC notified health providers of nine serious cases of hepatitis with no known cause in previously healthy children ages one to six in Alabama.
What is most unusual about all of this is that adenoviruses do not usually cause severe hepatitis in children with no underlying health problems.
Laboratory tests determined that several children had adenovirus type 41, which most commonly causes pediatric acute gastroenteritis, sometimes called gastroenteritis, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and sometimes more severe symptoms.
North Carolina identified cases in two more children last month, who have since recovered. Neither proved to be infected with adenovirus, authorities said. Illinois said Monday that it had identified three cases of severe pediatric hepatitis, one of which required a liver transplant.
Delaware health officials said Tuesday they had identified one case in a boy under the age of 5, who is currently hospitalized and undergoing treatment.
Matching Description In New York State and Wisconsin, health authorities are investigating several cases that appear to match the CDC description.
Several states that responded to emailed questions said they have not yet identified any cases that meet the criteria and said they are working closely with other health departments in the US and closely monitoring their local situations.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services will issue an alert to encourage health systems to report suspected cases, according to an email.
Because the cases appear in clusters, andThey are likely to be caused by a viral organism, according to Tina Tana pediatric infectious disease physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago and a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, but experts are still largely unaware of what the virus might be.
Although several of the children have also tested positive for COVID-19, Tan said the hepatitis cases are unlikely to be caused by SARS-CoV-2. None of the cases have been attributed to the family of viruses known to cause acute hepatitis.
Children are usually vaccinated against hepatitis A, while hepatitis B and C are less common in children due to the way the infections are acquired, often through sexual contact or sharing needles.
One silver lining to the pandemic, Tan said, is better and earlier communication by the CDC, which has asked health centers to report any cases of pediatric hepatitis of unknown origin to state health departments and to conduct adenovirus tests.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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