Cases of childhood hepatitis of unknown origin have been reported in the UK, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain.
Cases of childhood hepatitis of unknown origin, first identified in the UK, have been detected in children in four other European countries, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) announced on Tuesday. . “Following the reported cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin by the UK Health Security Agency” in early April, “additional cases in children have been reported in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain “, indicates the European agency in a press release.
Nine suspected cases have also been identified in children aged 1 to 6 in Alabama in the United States, according to the ECDC. “Investigations are continuing in all countries reporting cases. At present, the exact cause of hepatitis remains unknown”, writes the ECDC, but the British investigators “consider that an infectious cause is most likely due to the characteristics clinical and epidemiological cases”.
In France, after the launch of an “active search for cases”, “two cases of acute hepatitis whose etiology is still undetermined were reported by the Lyon University Hospital” in children under 10 years of age and “are under investigation”, indicated the Public Health agency France, questioned by AFP.
“Cases of acute hepatitis of undetermined etiology in children are not rare. The occurrence of these two cases is not unexpected and does not, at this stage, indicate an excess of cases in France”, we added from the same source, judging “other reports probably to be expected in the coming days” given the active search launched.
74 cases of severe hepatitis in Scotland
On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it expected new reports in the coming days and had already reported “less than five” cases in Ireland and three in Spain. Contacted by AFP, the ECDC was unable to give the number of cases by country.
No deaths have been recorded but some British cases have required liver transplantation. “Laboratory investigations of the cases excluded viral hepatitis types A, B, C, D and E in all cases,” according to the ECDC.
The United Kingdom initially reported 10 cases of severe hepatitis in Scotland to the WHO on April 5, before reporting a total of 74 three days later, according to the UN organization. Among the UK cases, “many cases showed signs of jaundice”.
“Some of the cases were reporting gastrointestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting in the preceding weeks,” according to the ECDC.