Under a new update on Wednesday from the World Health Organization (WHO), 35 countries in five regions of the world have now reported more than 1,010 possible cases unexplained severe acute hepatitis, or hepatitis, in adolescents, since the outbreak was first detected on April 5.
Hitherto, 22 children diedand nearly half of all probable cases have been reported in Europe, where 21 countries have registered a total of 484 cases.
Regional focal point
This includes 272 cases in the UK – 27% of the global total – followed by the Americas, with a total of 435 cases in the region, including 334 in the US, accounting for a fraction of the total. three cases worldwide.
The next highest deposit rates are in the Western Pacific Region (70 cases), Southeast Asia (19 cases) and the Eastern Mediterranean (two cases).
17 countries have reported more than five possible cases, but the actual number of cases may be underestimatedThis is partly due to limited enhanced surveillance systems in place, the WHO says.
According to the latest assessment of the United Nations health agency, The risk of spreading hepatitis in this child is “moderate.”“.
Symptom
Among the 100 possible cases with available clinical data, the most commonly reported symptoms were nausea or vomiting (in 60% of cases), jaundice (53%), general weakness ( 52%) and abdominal pain (50%).
The median time from onset of symptoms to hospitalization, was four days.
In laboratory tests, WHO says that hepatitis A to E is not present in affected children. Other pathogens such as Coronavirus The United Nations health agency says it has been detected in some cases, but the data is incomplete.
Lead adenovirus
Adenovirus – which causes a variety of illnesses, such as colds, fevers, sore throats and pneumonia – is the “most frequently detected pathogen” in cases of hepatitis in children, the WHO said.
In Europe, adenovirus has been detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in 52% of pediatric hepatitis cases (193/368) to date; in Japan, it was found only in 9% of cases (5/58).
Given the limited adenovirus surveillance in most countries, it is very likely that the true number of cases of hepatitis in children is higher than it is currently.
To promote a better understanding of where the outbreak is occurring, WHO has released a Global online surveythis will also help compare current cases with data from the past five years.
WHO shared the voluntary survey across 9 global and regional networks of pediatric hepatologists specializing in issues related to the liver and other organs, along with other specialists working at WHO. large national units, require aggregated data as part of a global event survey.
