Health chiefs are now investigating whether dogs are responsible for an outbreak of mysterious hepatitis in children, in which 18 other British children developed an unusual form of liver disease, according to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”.
British health chiefs
Health chiefs say a “high” number of hepatitis cases have owned or had contact with dogs. According to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”, another 18 cases of hepatitis were confirmed in the UK by 3 May, bringing the total number to 163.
Pet dogs are being examined as a possible cause of the mysterious hepatitis outbreak affecting children around the world, health chiefs claim a “high” number of sick children, aged 10 or younger, are from families who own dogs or have been exposed to the virus, the newspaper said. Exposing dogs“.
The UK’s Health Security Agency said (UKHSA) tasked with finding out why dozens of children develop an unusual type of liver disease, “is being explored for the significance of this finding“.
Meanwhile, officials revealed today that another 18 young people have contracted the disease, bringing the total number of children in the UK to 163 since January..
The numbers indicate that so far, nearly 300 cases have been discovered worldwide, one death has been confirmed, while 4 are under investigation, but none of these are in the United Kingdom. Scientists have been left confused regarding the cause of the disease, Excluding hepatitis viruses A And BAnd CAnd DAnd E From lab test results.
Health chiefs believe the culprit may be adenoviruses, however, investigations are underway because they usually cause colds and stomach germs. Analysis has shown that three-quarters of 163 children with hepatitis in the UK have tested positive for adenoviruses..
Hepatitis prevalence map
But the UK’s Health Security Agency UKHSA She acknowledged that others may have contracted the virus as well because of the way the test is done. Some of the negative cases had only looked for adenovirus in respiratory and stool samples, although it was mainly detected in blood, but academics believe the shutdown may be Weakened children’s immunity and made them more vulnerable to infection with the virus.
But the UK’s Health Security Agency UKHSA It also acknowledged that an “exceptionally large” wave of adenovirus might be causing the condition to appear more frequently than expected, hepatitis is usually rare in children, but experts have already found more cases in the UK since January than they usually expect. within a year.
And the newspaper said, that the cases are from an “unknown source” and are also dangerous, explaining that there is another theory that the children may have been fighting the adenovirus at the same time with Corona, or that the complications may be long..
Symptoms of mysterious hepatitis
However, health officials have ruled out the Corona vaccine as a possible cause because the majority of sick British children have not been vaccinated due to their young age, leading experts fear that health chiefs will not understand the cause of this strange pattern, which has infected 200 children worldwide since March for several months.
Dr Mira Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections at the UK Health Security Agency, said: UKHSAThe association with the adenovirus is being carefully evaluated, and she urged parents to stay informed of symptoms of hepatitis, while noting that the likelihood of their children becoming infected is “very low.”“Jaundice, “the yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes,” is the most common sign, followed by vomiting and pale stools, she said..
UK Health Security Agency officials UKHSA Looking at survey responses from affected families, they found that 70% – 64 of 92 participants – owned a dog or had been exposed to a dog..
Heads of Health have admitted the finding may be a coincidence because pet dog ownership is ‘common in the UK’, figures suggest around half of UK adults own a pet, but they are investigating whether a dog’s bonding is of any importance..
It’s important for parents to know that the likelihood of their children developing hepatitis is very low, however, we continue to remind everyone to be aware of signs of hepatitis — especially jaundice, look for a yellowish tinge in the white of the eye — and call your doctor if you’re concerned, Dr. Chand said..
Our investigations continue to indicate an association between adenovirus, and our studies are now thoroughly testing this association.
We are also investigating other contributors, including past infections, and are working closely with the NHS NHS and academic partners to understand the mechanism of liver injury in affected children.
Health chiefs also hope it will be cases of hepatitis It has peaked, noting that there has been “a clear decrease in confirmed cases in the past two weeks, however, the contraction may be due to the reporting of delays.”.
The Health and Human Services Authority said Scotland was continuing to register cases and there were a “significant” number of suspected cases in England that were being investigated..
The report also revealed that adenovirus continued to be the most common virus detected among children with hepatitis.
Blood tests conducted on 126 infected children in the UK showed that 91 of them were carrying the virus (72%)..
The UK’s Health Security Agency noted that some of those who tested negative had only had throat and stool tests, rather than the gold-standard blood test..
“It is therefore not possible to definitively rule out adenovirus in these cases, and the British update comes following the World Health Organization said this week that nearly 300 probable hepatitis cases had been detected in 20 countries,” the agency said..
Most cases were detected in the United Kingdom (163) and the United States (27), which have some of the strongest surveillance systems, hepatitis has also been detected in Spain (22), Israel (12), Italy (9) and Denmark (6).
