On April 15, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published an alert regarding the increase in cases of serious hepatitis Aguda –of unknown cause– in children under 10 years of age in the United Kingdom.
From this call, more cases began to be reported in other countries, so much so that to date the disease has been reported in 20, including Spain, Israel, Denmark, Italy, the United States and Belgium.
From Lisbon, the WHO Regional Director for Emergencies, Gerald Rockenschaub, said: “It is urgent, we are giving this top priority and to work very closely with the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control in management and coordination”.
The specialist, who is in Portugal for the Universal Health and Preparedness Review (UHPR, in English) – a program to share resources between countries to prepare responses to public health emergencies – explained that they have also put several countries on notice for “keep an eye on this more specifically”.
Has it been reported in Colombia?
To date, no cases of severe acute hepatitis have been reported in the country. However, the National Institutes of Health (INS) has already urged health service providers to strengthen the recognition of this event.
“Faced with the identification of a probable case, ruling out other events that may explain the patient’s symptoms, must be notified immediately through the public health surveillance system, through Sivigila code 900 (event not established)”, reads the official document that the INS sent to the EPS and IPS.
According to the WHO, the age of those affected has ranged between one month and 16 years; at most events no fever has occurred and associated viruses (hepatitis A, B, C, D and E) have not been detected in any of them.
So far they have been notified at least 228 cases of acute childhood hepatitis worldwide, most of them in Europe.
At least four of the cases they have been deadly and about a tenth of affected children have required a liver transplant.
Leandro Soares Sereno, advisor for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), answers the following questions on the organization’s official website, among others.
What are the symptoms? Is there treatment? “Acute hepatitis has different symptoms: gastrointestinal, such as diarrhea or vomiting, fever and muscle pain, but the most characteristic is jaundice. –a yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes–. Treatment seeks to relieve symptoms, manage and stabilize the patient if the case is severe. These recommendations must be adjusted when the origin is determined.”
What can parents do to protect their children? “The main thing is to be attentive to the symptoms, such as diarrhea or vomiting, and especially if there are signs of jaundice, prompt medical attention should be sought. For prevention, we recommend taking basic hygiene measures such as wash hands, cover coughs or sneezes.
For now, there are few conclusions and certainty about what is happening. The studies continue.