Cases of acute hepatitis have been reported in European countries following a mysterious jump in cases of severe liver disease in children in the United Kingdom.
The UK’s public health agencies have been investigating 74 cases of hepatitis – a disease that causes inflammation of the liver – in children since January.
Health experts are trying to determine the causes of the cases, as the usual viruses that cause the disease have not been found.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the EU Health Agency have warned other countries to be vigilant and asked them to report all cases of unknown origin.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday that additional cases of hepatitis of unknown origin had been reported in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain.
There are also nine cases of children between the ages of one and six in Alabama, USA, who also tested positive for adenovirus.
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which is a vital organ for processing nutrients, filtering the blood and fighting infections.
Inflammation can affect liver function and the disease can vary in severity depending on the cause.
While some types of hepatitis are mild and do not require treatment, other forms of the disease can become chronic and fatal.
Hepatitis is often transmitted by the hepatitis virus, of which there are five main types: A, B, C, D and E.
Unexplained cause of the peak in cases of hepatitis
The UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on April 12 that it was investigating the cause of the disease, which mostly affects children aged two to five.
Some of the children suffered from acute liver failure and “a small number needed a liver transplant.”
What puzzles the authorities is that no evidence of major hepatitis viruses has been found in the UK, and scientists and doctors are now considering other possible causes, including COVID-19, other viral infections and environmental factors.
UKHSA said it was “unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine”, adding that none of the confirmed cases in the UK had been vaccinated.
It says that one of the potential causes is adenoviruses.
“Adenoviruses are a family of common viruses that usually cause a number of minor illnesses and most people recover without complications,” the report said.
The ECDC said investigations were ongoing in all reporting countries and “the exact cause of hepatitis in these children remains unknown.”
“Toxicological studies are ongoing, but the infectious etiology is considered more likely given the epidemiological picture and clinical features of the cases,” the agency said.
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