For the unusual increase in cases of acute hepatitis in children aged mainly from 2 to 5 years, Nikos Tzanakis, Professor of Pulmonology at the University of Crete, spoke to SKY and the programme "Kalimera".
As he said, there are various speculations about 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 who had specific tests 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-heal at home, few have ended up in hospitals and 3-4 cases were so severe liver failure that they needed a liver transplant.
"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 phenomenon will be," he concluded.
Source: protothema.gr
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