An alarm has been raised about hepatitis "striking" children by the World Health Organization and by control centers in the US and Europe.
Today unfortunately the WHO announced the first death, while at the same time Professor Gigas Majorkinis spoke of a rare complication that cannot be contained and an increase in cases is expected.
The professor said that "this is a rare complication of a widespread disease, the cases we see are only the tip of the iceberg."
In particular, 169 cases of hepatitis have been confirmed so far in children from a total of 12 countries.
The World Health Organization has not made known the country of origin of the child who died.
According to the WHO, as of April 21, cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children had been recorded in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Israel, Israel, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France, France, Romania and Belgium, with the majority - 114 of the 169 cases - recorded in the United Kingdom.
The children who developed acute hepatitis were aged between one month and 16 years; 17 were deemed to need liver transplants.
[/B][BR][BR]The WHO said that in the last 74 cases, a common flu virus known as adenovirus was identified. Twenty of the children tested were infected with the novel coronavirus; 19 had both adenovirus and COVID-19, it added.
The ECDC also sounded the bell
According to the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), cases of childhood hepatitis of unknown origin were initially identified in the United Kingdom and have now been identified in children in four other countries in Europe.
"Following cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin identified by the UK Health Protection Agency" in early April, "additional cases in children have been reported in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain," the European agency said in a statement.
At the same time, nine suspected cases were also identified in children aged 1 to 6 years in Alabama in the US , according to the ECDC. "Investigations are continuing in all countries reporting cases. At this time, the exact cause of hepatitis remains unknown," the ECDC writes, but British investigators "consider an infectious cause to be the most likely given the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the cases."
Greece
Greek authorities are also on alert, although no case has yet been found, with Health Minister Thanos Plevris expressing concern about the outbreak of hepatitis in children in England as he noted that in at least three cases the disease led to transplantation in children aged 3 to 5 years.
Nikos Tzanakis: Where can it be caused - The three possible versions
For the unusual increase in cases of acute hepatitis in children aged mainly from 2 to 5 years, reported Professor of Pulmonology at the University of Crete, Nikos Tzanakis, speaking to SKAI and the show "Kalimera".
As he said, there are various speculations as to what exactly is happening, but we have to wait in order to ascertain the cause of this outbreak of the disease, although it seems to be due to an adenovirus, which until recently caused a common cold.
"Thorough testing has been done on 13 children in Scotland. Three of them were found to have coronavirus, five were negative, two appear to have had coronavirus a few months ago. Of the 11 that were specifically tested for adenovirus, five were positive. Possibly, this adenovirus, which in the past did not cause hepatitis, seems to be the culprit," he said.
Asked if there is a correlation between hepatitis and coronavirus, Mr. Tzanakis explained that there is speculation that the quarantine placed the children "in a fishbowl" with the consequence that their immune system did not develop well and the adenovirus found ground to act in this way.
"The second is that indirectly the coronavirus in some children modified their immune system in such a way that a subsequent infection with a common virus caused these effects," he added.
Referring to the symptoms displayed by the children, he said they have fatigue, they may develop fever, they may have an icky cast to their eyes and skin, their urine is brightly coloured and their stools are discoloured. "They may also experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain," he stressed."
As for the ages affected, the professor noted that they are up to 16 years old, but 80%-90% of cases are from 2 to 5 years old.
He appeared reassuring, noting that most cases self-feed at home, few have ended up in hospitals and 3-4 cases were so severe liver failure that they needed liver transplants.
"We should not panic and we should observe hygiene measures. We should wait to see what the cause is, how we can protect ourselves and what the extent of this will be," he concluded."
The six symptoms
The children in Britain "were healthy until a week ago. Most are recovering on their own," a hepatologist at Birmingham's Deirdre Kelly Children's Hospital tells Science.
Doctors in Britain, which counts the most cases of hepatitis, are advising parents to monitor their children under the age of 16 to see if they develop the following symptoms:
1. 1. 1. Itching in the body
4. Fever
5. Nausea
6. Pain in the abdomen
Source: in.gr
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