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Of the 143 cases with information, 22 were admitted to an intensive care unit
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Of the 98 cases for which this information was available, six have received a liver transplant
Spain already adds 26 cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin in kidsaccording to data published this Friday by the Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Europe and the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC).
In Europe, until this Friday 232 cases of this hepatitis have been reportedof which 229 were classified as probable and three as epidemiologically related, by 14 countries. Of the 229 probable cases, 122 have recovered, while 18 remain under medical care.
The cases are concentrated in Belgium (12), Cyprus (2), Denmark (6), Greece (two), Ireland (6), Italy (24), the Netherlands (6), Norway (5), Poland (1) , Serbia (1), Slovenia (1), Spain (26), Sweden (9) and the United Kingdom (131).
deadly infection
The majority (75.9%) of the cases are under 5 years old. Of the 143 cases with information, 22 (15.4%) were admitted to an intensive care unit. Of the 98 cases for which this information was available, six (6.1%) received a Liver transplant. Has been one death associated with this disease.
In total, they were analyzed 151 cases to detect adenovirus using any type of sample, of which 90 (59.6%) were positive. The positivity rate was highest in whole blood samples (68.9%).
Of the 173 cases subjected to the PCR test for SARS-CoV-2, 20 (11.6%) were positive. Serology results for SARS-CoV-2 were only available for 19 cases, of which 14 (73.7%) had a positive result. Of the 56 cases with data on vaccination against COVID-19, 47 (83.9%) were not vaccinated.
The WHO and the ECDC explain that since severe hepatitis may take time to develop after the first symptoms appear and investigations take time, “there may be a delay in reporting cases“. “Therefore, the recent decline in cases is difficult to interpret,” they point out.
Multiple cases around the world
Related news
Since the first alert launched by the United Kingdom on April 5, cases have been reported in multiple countries around the world. It is not yet clear whether all cases identified after the alert are part of a true increase compared to the baseline rate of hepatitis of unknown aetiology in children.
“The etiology and pathogenic mechanisms of the disease are still under investigation. A possible association with current adenovirus infection has been identified, but other hypotheses and possible cofactors are being investigated. The majority of cases continue to be reported as sporadic unrelated cases,” the ECDC and WHO stress.