Doctors in Alberta are watching for any signs of severe and mysterious forms of hepatitis in children and teenagers, which confuses doctors and scientists around the world.
Nearly 200 cases of acute liver disease have been found in children aged one month to 16 in at least a dozen countries.
So far, 17 children have needed a liver transplant and there have been at least one death.
While federal health officials say several cases have been investigated in young Canadian children, the condition has not been identified in any of Alberta’s children.
“There are no confirmed cases of severe unexplained hepatitis in Alberta so far. We will continue to update Alberts as appropriate, “Alberta Health spokeswoman Lisa Glover said in a statement emailed to CBC News on Friday.
Officials did not answer questions from CBC News about whether any of the Canadian cases under investigation are in Alberta.
No cause has been identified
The disease is particularly puzzling because researchers have been unable to determine the cause.
“There are many causes of hepatitis, but in these cases the most common causes are excluded and it is not clear what led to the condition,” said Dr. Dina Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer, at a news conference on Wednesday.
“A lot of work is being done worldwide on this issue, and some cases have identified adenovirus, which is a common cold virus. It is not clear if this virus causes hepatitis, but it is one of the possible causes that is being studied. “
The World Health Organization said this week that adenovirus has been detected in at least 74 cases, SARS-CoV-2 has been identified in other cases, and some children have tested positive for both.
The unexpected increase in acute hepatitis in children makes doctors in Alberta alert.
Edmonton pediatrician Dr. Tehsin Ladha says that when children have abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, which are symptoms that can be quite common, she is now more likely to check liver enzymes to look for liver inflammation. . (CBC)
“I’m worried,” said Dr. Techsin Ladha, an Edmonton-based pediatrician and assistant professor at the University of Alberta School of Medicine.
“This has led us to be more careful and vigilant about some of these symptoms, for which we do not usually do blood tests. So, if a child has abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting – these are usually not things we would do with blood. But knowing that hepatitis occurs worldwide in children, we will look at these things more closely now to determine if this child needs blood tests and more tests. “
“I don’t think parents need to worry about this in their daily activities,” said Dr. Stephen Friedman, a professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Calgary. (Riley Brand / University of Calgary)
Dr. Stephen Friedman, an emergency room doctor at Alberta Children’s Hospital, warned parents not to panic.
“The risk to children in Canada is extremely, extremely low at the moment,” said Friedman, who also teaches pediatrics at Cumming Medical School at the University of Calgary.
“I don’t think parents have to worry about that in their daily activities.”
Friedman noted that gastrointestinal symptoms are often seen in the pediatric emergency department. However, he sees no alarming signs.
“What really should be a red flag for parents or doctors [and] Healthcare providers are children who have really dark tea-colored urine or if their skin or eyes have a yellowish tinge. It would be worrying that the liver is actually involved in every process that happens, “he said.
“None of the children we see, as far as I know, have additional characteristics that would make us worry about liver failure.”
Health officials say that if there is an infectious cause behind the disease, measures such as washing your hands, wearing masks and staying home when you are sick can help.
“We are working to provide first-line information to physicians on this topic, as usual,” Glover said.
“We work closely with federal, provincial and territorial partners to monitor emerging information and look forward to [the Public Health Agency of Canada] to provide a standardized set of minimum national reporting data, which we expect to be available soon. “
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