It’s a crossroads of the world. Doctors are on high alert after cases of unknown origin juvenile hepatitis were discovered in children in five countries. The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) made the news on Tuesday, according to AFP.
Unknown hepatitis cases have been found in children in a number of nations.
Last Monday, the World Health Organization announced that it is monitoring dozens of youngsters under the age of ten in the United Kingdom for new instances of hepatitis. According to BFM TV, other countries are now suspecting similar occurrences. It’s a “weird and worrisome” hepatitis, according to Science magazine.
“Additional cases of children have been reported in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain,” the European agency said in a statement. “Following reports of acute hepatitis of unknown origin by the British Health Agency” in early April, “additional cases of children have been reported in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain.”
According to the ECDC, nine further potential cases have been detected in children aged 1 to 6 in Alabama, United States.
“All countries reporting cases are continuing their investigations. The actual source of hepatitis is unknown, according to the ECDC, although British researchers feel an infectious cause is most plausible based on the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the patients.
In France, “two instances of acute hepatitis whose etiology is yet unknown have been reported by the University Hospital of Lyon” in children under the age of ten and “are under investigation” following the beginning of an “active case search.” According to the Public Health Agency, which was questioned by AFP.
New instances of hepatitis of unknown origin are expected, according to the WHO.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated on Friday that new reports are expected in the coming days, adding that “fewer than five” cases had already been documented in Ireland and three in Spain.
According to the ECDC, laboratory investigations of the cases ruled out viral hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E in all cases.
According to the United Nations, the United Kingdom first reported 10 instances of acute hepatitis in Scotland to the WHO on April 5, before reporting a total of 74 cases three days later. Many of the cases in the United Kingdom had indications of jaundice.
According to the ECDC, several of the victims had had gastrointestinal symptoms such as stomach discomfort, diarrhea, and vomiting in the previous weeks.