As of April 21, 2022, the World Health Organization has counted 169 cases of acute hepatitis in children aged 1 month to 16 years. The majority of them (114 live in the United Kingdom), and other countries are concerned to a lesser extent: 13 cases have been identified in Spain, 12 in Israel, 9 in the United States, 6 in Denmark, 4 in Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy, 2 in France and Norway, and 1 in Romania and Belgium. As the origin of this worrying disease is not yet known, health authorities are actively seeking to find its origin, and the WHO is advancing leads in a report to explain this phenomenon.
An adenovirus responsible for these hepatitis?
In a report, the WHO says it has worked closely with health authorities in the UK, where the most cases have been detected. The track of adenoviruses is privileged, explains the international institution. There are more than 50 types of this virus, which are generally responsible for infections of the lungs and respiratory tract, which can cause a cold and, in other cases, pneumonia, but also conjunctivitis or vomiting and, rarely, hepatitis. However, the information point points out that an infection with an adenovirus “does not fully explain the severity of the clinical picture”and that there would therefore be at least one other underlying origin.
The WHO therefore suggests three avenues which “need to be investigated further”the first being that “factors such as increased susceptibility in young children following a lower circulating level of adenovirus during the Covid-19 pandemic”. That is to say that the coronavirus and the fact of having been very little exposed to adenoviruses since 2020 may have weakened the immune system of children.
She also advancesthe potential emergence of a new adenovirus” and, on this subject, Scottish researchers advance in the journal Science the possibility of“a variant with a distinct clinical syndrome or a commonly circulating variant that affects young children more severely”.
For the World Health Organization, the seriousness of these cases of hepatitis might also be linked to ae “SARS-CoV-2 co-infection”. Indeed, some children affected were tested for adenovirus and Covid-19, which shows that, of the 169 patients counted, 74 were positive for adenovirus and 20 were coronavirus positive. “Additionally, 19 were detected with SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus co-infection.”
In its report, the WHO once once more rules out the possibility of a side effect of the coronavirus vaccine. In effect, “the vast majority of affected children have not received the Covid-19 vaccine“.
WHO recommendations for research and to protect children
“It is very likely that more cases will be detected before the cause can be confirmed and more specific control and prevention measures can be implemented”, says the WHO. For now, she does not advocate any travel or trade restrictions with the United Kingdom, the main focus of this epidemic, but she recommends gestures to protect children. “The priority is to determine the cause of these cases to further refine control and prevention actions. Routine preventive measures once morest adenovirus and other common infections involve regular hand washing and respiratory hygieneshe explains.
To find the origin of this hepatitis, the WHO recommends carrying out analyzes of blood, serum, urine, stool, respiratory samples and samples taken during a liver biopsy, when this is possible, in sick children. This data would make it possible to pursue research and refine hypotheses.
Read also: