The Agency does not specify how many cases in Canada are subject to further investigation to determine if they are linked to cases in the UK and US
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The latest available data from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that at least 169 cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin have been reported in nearly a dozen countries, the majority of them in the Kingdom. -United.
On Tuesday, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimated the number of cases reported worldwide at nearly 200.
The United States has identified more than a dozen cases in several states. Many cases of this childhood hepatitis have also been reported in Spain, Israel, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Norway, France, Romania, Belgium and the Netherlands.
About 10% of affected children required liver transplants and at least one child died, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Reported cases worldwide primarily affect children between the ages of one month and 16 years.
Nausea, vomiting
It’s not yet known whether the Canadian cases match the same syndrome seen elsewhere, Dr. Jordan Feld, a liver disease specialist and lead researcher at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, told CBC.
Affected children typically have gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, he says.
” The most serious problem is that they develop jaundice […] or their liver blood tests are observed to be abnormal. »
A virus involved?
Scientists are puzzled as to the origin of this hepatitis.
It is certain that a viral infection is at the top of the list, but this remains to be proven
explains Mr. Feld.
Medical conditions and taking certain medications can cause hepatitis. The same is true for excessive alcohol consumption or exposure to certain chemicals or drugs. But inflammation or damage to the liver is most often caused by a virus.
On the other hand, the WHO indicates that the usual hepatitis viruses (from A to E) have not been identified in these young people.
Adenovirus was detected in at least 74 cases; this is a common group of viruses that are known to cause a wide range of health problems, ranging from gastrointestinal disorders to bladder infections to the common cold.
In the UK, authorities recently observed a significant increase in adenovirus infections in the community, following low circulation at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrea Ammon, Director ofECDCdiscussed a theory suggesting that lockdowns during the pandemic may have weakened children’s immunity because they were less exposed to common pathogens while in isolation.
But this theory is far from definitive, given the different testing rates for different viruses.
The virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, has also been identified in 20 of those tested – while 18 of the young hepatitis patients were infected with both viruses.
In Israel, one of the doctors involved in treating cases of childhood hepatitis suspects there may be a link to COVID-19.
After ruling out all the different possibilities, the common denominator of all the cases we found was that all of them had contracted the coronavirus about three and a half months before the onset of the infection.
told Ha’aretz Dr. Yael Mozer-Glassberg, head of the pediatric liver transplant unit at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, northeast of Tel Aviv.
” I don’t think it’s still possible to say that all of these cases are a post-COVID phenomenon. »
The vaccine against COVID-19 would not be in question
Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist at Sinai Health System in Toronto, told CBC it’s safe to say that the COVID-19 vaccination is not to blame. Most young children, she noted, are not yet able to get vaccinated.
Whatever the cause, scientists are on the lookout.
Whenever we see severe hepatitis, especially in young children, it is alarming
concluded Mr. Feld.
Based on text by Lauren Pelley, CBC
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca