According to the information provided by the WHO, 10% of cases required a liver transplant following contracting the disease.
Dr. Carlos Mellado, secretary of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico. Photo: Archive of the Journal of Medicine and Public Health. Fabiola Plaza.
As a preventive measure in cases of hepatitis reported in the world, the Department of Health establishes a surveillance system that requires hospitals and any health service provider to report patients with suspected disease.
The measure is part of the preventive action plan to detect possible cases of hepatitis Acute disease of unknown origin in the pediatric population on the Island.
Surveillance allows identifying, quantifying, monitoring, intervening and following up on potential cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported the existence of 169 cases in children between one month of birth and 16 years reported in 12 countries.
“In this effort, it is important to have the collaboration of all health providers to be able to collect the necessary information that allows us to immediately identify a suspected case,” said the Secretary of Health, Carlos Mellado López.
Mellado specified that the symptoms detected in the cases identified globally are inflammation of the liver, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and high levels of liver enzymes.
The Secretary recalled that there are vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and B, while for the hepatitis C there is a treatment. “Preliminary, the new disease has been associated with a virus that is transmitted respiratoryly, so a preventive measure is to cover the mouth when coughing and frequent hand washing, similar to the measures we are using to prevent coronavirus. However, , other potential causes continue to be identified.
According to the information provided by the WHO, 10% of the cases required a liver transplant following contracting the disease; and at least one (1) related death has been recorded. At the moment, research points to a link between adenovirus infection, but research is still being carried out in different countries to clarify the origin of the infection that causes inflammation of the liver.
The Department of Health has shared recommendations with providers to deepen diagnostic studies in order to identify possible infectious, toxic or metabolic etiologies. Specifically, the studies carried out on the patient must contemplate the assessment of hepatitis acute viral (serology hepatitis A, B, C, D and E), in addition to EBV, CMV and HIV. In the current epidemiological context, respiratory viruses (Influenza A and B, Adenovirus, SARS-CoV-2) and specific gastrointestinal pathogens (proculture, identification of Adenovirus and rotavirus in feces) should be considered.
All cases with clinical suspicion of hepatitis acute of unknown etiology in infants, children and adolescents should be reported to the Office of Epidemiology and Research of the Department of Health; as provided by Administrative Order 358 (https://www.salud.gov.pr/CMS/DOWNLOAD/3587), under the criteria of any disease or unusual condition or hepatitis viruses (others).
The World Health Organization (WHO) identified cases of hepatitis acute in 12 countries; (11 in Europe and one in America): United Kingdom (114), Spain (13), Israel (12), United States (9), Denmark (6), Ireland (5), Holland (4), Italy (4 ), Norway (2), France (2), Romania (1) and Belgium (1).
