The medical community of Cyprus is ready to deal with a possible case of acute hepatitis, states to CNA the President of the Cyprus Paediatric Society, Dr Michael Anastasiades, who clarifies that no case of hepatitis has been recorded in Cyprus so far, while reassuring the public by saying that many of these cases will be mild, i.e. subclinical, without causing any serious permanent damage to the liver.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency on the intense concern in the medical community following the increased cases of hepatitis found in infants and toddlers in several countries around the world, Dr Anastasiades said that the conditions of the pandemic probably favoured the outbreak of many viral infections, since, as he explains, "the conditions of confinement and confinement, which prevented the transmission and emergence of many viral infections, have resulted in intermittent and now that we are experiencing a complete relaxation of measures, they are occurring in an endemic form that one would not have expected in this period of time."
Asked by the Cyprus News Agency whether such cases are expected to come to Cyprus soon, he says that no one can know, noting that he does not think they will take the form of the epidemic outbreak we experienced with coronavirus, but that many of these cases will be mild.
This, he adds, "is something we experienced last summer and early autumn, with the spike in winter infections, and the same is expected to happen with viruses such as Adenovirus, which we know is very highly contagious, as it very often affects the gastrointestinal and especially the respiratory tract, causing frequent infections which of course have excellent outcomes in the vast majority of cases."
In response to a relevant question, Anastasiades did not rule out the possibility that there have been cases in Cyprus, which have not been diagnosed, however, he notes that there is no cause for concern, since these cases - if and when they existed - were fully curable, without leaving any residue.
According to Dr Anastasiades, 169 cases have been recorded worldwide to date, including 112 in the UK.
Investigation into possible mutation
Referring to the developments so far, the IPC President said that what appears to be being investigated at the moment is whether there is a specific mutation of this particular strain of Adenovirus.
Regarding this particular strain, he said that the scientific community "has not definitively arrived at the final cause that will characterise the situation we are facing", assuring that the situation is under very close monitoring by both the World Health Organisation and the relevant health authorities in Europe and more widely.
He expressed the assessment that a possible increase in the number of cases is expected, while at the same time reassuring that from the recording of cases so far, there seems to be no cause for particular concern.
"It was an unexpected occurrence of a situation from a virus that we have not yet identified, although all the findings point to the implication of a specific virus, Adenovirus, and even a specific Adenovirus strain, which until now had not shown us such behavior, that is, the ability to affect the liver at least in healthy children," he said.
Referring further to the issue, he said that scientific investigations are ongoing, to note that what is being said at the moment is qualified.
He stressed that the medical community is awaiting the evolution of the phenomenon with particular interest, adding that "because we do not have data that fully clarify the picture, we must inform parents, but without spreading any panic, as there seems to be no reason to be concerned about such a massive outbreak of cases."
According to Michael Anastasiades, "the majority of cases will have an excellent outcome", to note that "the fact of more severe disease and very serious complications that occurred in some children is one of the characteristics of this phenomenon, so we are discussing it and we are concerned".
In relation to the symptoms of these cases, Dr. Anastasiades explained that what should alarm parents and lead them for medical evaluation is the characteristic of jaundice, which is the yellow color that the skin and eyes of a person who has liver damage can turn yellow.
No link to the coronavirus vaccine
In addition, he clarifies that the issue of vaccination against Covid 19 "has no link to the whole phenomenon," while explaining that the link to Covid 19 infection is one of the questions and one of the issues, which are the focus of the scientific investigation, as some of these children had a history of coronavirus disease or a history of co-morbidity with Adenovirus.
"We are waiting and alert. We are monitoring and at all times we will be available to inform the public if anything different comes up," the WCC President concluded.
Source: CNA
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