The Ministry of Health is investigating ten suspicious deaths from hepatitis of unknown origin, the mysterious hepatitis, in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Minas Gerais, Maranhão, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Altogether in the country, there are 96 suspected cases and ten transplants were performed. At least 19 states have records of patients with symptoms of the disease, reports Folha de São Paulo. The government does not confirm that there are cases of the disease in the country.
The State of São Paulo has 32 cases under investigation, in 21 cities, four in the metropolitan region (Diadema, Embu-Guaçu, Itapevi and São Bernardo do Campo).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 920 probable cases of the disease in 33 countries, in addition to 18 deaths and 45 transplants.
According to specialists from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver due to several causes, the most frequent being infections with type A, B and C viruses and the abuse of alcohol or other toxic substances, such as some medicines.
“In most cases, hepatitis is caused by a viral infection, and there are different viruses recognized as causative agents of the disease”, says a note from the University.
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Diagnosis is made by blood test. Symptoms are gastrointestinal, such as diarrhea or vomiting, fever and muscle pain, but the most characteristic is jaundice – a yellowish coloration of the skin and eyes. Other symptoms are yellow, gray and whitish stools, dark urine, pain in the upper belly and loss of appetite.
Transmission can be fecal-oral, by contact between individuals or through contaminated water or food. It can also occur through condomless sexual intercourse with an infected person, from an infected mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding, and through the sharing of contaminated objects, such as the use of non-sterile materials for tattoos, piercings or fingernails.
There are cases of transmission by contact with contaminated blood, either by blood transfusion, accident with contaminated material or sharing injectable drugs.
Hepatitis can also be a result of abuse of alcohol, illegal drugs and medications or be a consequence of autoimmune diseases. Treatment depends on the cause of the disease, severity of symptoms, and mode of infection.
In the case of mysterious hepatitis, the causative agent has not been identified. The British health agency and the WHO are investigating whether a change in the adenovirus genome could be the cause of the disease. A relationship with Covid-19 has not been ruled out, as Sars-CoV-2 has been found in samples from sick people.
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