WHO identified 169 cases of severe hepatitis in children; 1 death recorded

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that Saturday (23) at least one child died Due to an epidemic of hepatitis of unknown origin that has occurred since day 15 among children and infants in some countries in Europe and the USA. (21) By Thursday, the main health institution in the world had registered 169 cases of serious illness. Affected children are between 1 month and 16 years old.

WHO did not provide information on the child who died or the country that registered the death, but confirmed that 17 of the young patients needed a liver transplant in haste. It is not yet known whether there is a sudden increase in hepatitis cases or if more accurate tests for adenovirus detection are starting to identify a rare previously undetected outcome.

What virus causes these rare cases of hepatitis?

Although the root cause of the problem has not been clearly identified, adenoviruses have been identified in at least 74 cases. In the other 20 cases, the presence of the covid-19 virus Sars-CoV-2 was found. Finally, in 19 cases, infection of both viruses was confirmed simultaneously.

Therefore, several factors have been investigated, including increased susceptibility of minors after adenovirus circulation was low during the pandemic, the emergence of a possible mutation of adenovirus, and the effects of co-infection of co-infection. Even a possible side effect of the vaccine was investigated and soon abandoned. most infected children have not received the vaccine against covid-19.

However, even if adenovirus is indeed responsible for the problem, its presence alone does not explain the severity of the children’s clinical conditions, says the WHO. This is because the adenovirus type -41- detected in children so far is a “preference” for diarrhea, vomiting, fever and respiratory symptoms, and does not usually cause liver problemsespecially in healthy children.