A mysterious liver disease that has infected children in a dozen countries around the world has reached Asia, a case reported in Japan.
In Japan, a case of acute hepatitis – or inflammation of the liver – of unknown origin was reported by local authorities on April 21 in a child who tested negative for adenovirus – a possible cause that is being investigated worldwide – and Covid-19.
The patient did not have a liver transplant, the health ministry said on Monday, without giving further details.
The Canadian Public Health Agency said Tuesday it was investigating reports of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in young children. It does not reveal the number of cases or their location.
To date, 190 mysterious cases of acute hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, 140 of them in Europe, mostly in the United Kingdom (110 cases). Other cases have been found in Israel and the United States. Seventeen children became so ill that they needed a liver transplant.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a national health alert last week that the first cases in the United States were identified in October in Alabama. The first cases in the United Kingdom were registered in January.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said at least one outbreak was reported on Saturday. The UN Health Agency said the cases had been reported in children between the ages of one month and 16 years. The WHO did not say in which country the death occurred.
Hepatitis is usually caused by one of several contagious hepatitis viruses, but they have not been found in affected children. Jaundice, diarrhea and abdominal pain are among the reported symptoms.
One theory, investigated by the UK Health Security Agency, is that the lack of exposure to the common adenovirus – which usually causes stomach upsets and colds – during the coronavirus pandemic led to more severe disease in children. Of the 53 cases tested in the United Kingdom, 40 (75%) showed signs of adenovirus infection.
Scotland’s director of public health Jim McMenamine told Reuters that work was under way to find out if an adenovirus had mutated to cause a more serious illness or if it could cause problems in tandem with another virus, including possibly Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
UK officials said there was “no link” between the cases and the Covid-19 vaccine, as none of the children affected by hepatitis had received a prick.
Andrea Amon, director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm, said: “So far there is no connection between the cases and no connection with the trip.”
The disease has occurred in previously healthy children, Amon said.
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