An outbreak of cases of hepatitis of unknown origin in children has alerted the medical community for a few days. After the United Kingdom, cases have been detected in four other European countries.
Already on Friday, the WHO had indicated that it was monitoring cases of severe hepatitis in around seventy children in the United Kingdom. And on Tuesday additional cases were announced by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain.
In Switzerland, the Federal Office of Public Health, quoted by Le Temps, clarified that no unusual case had been declared for the moment.
The disease mainly affects children under the age of 10. It is manifested by jaundice, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain. No deaths are to be deplored but six British children had to receive a liver transplant.
Infectious cause considered probable
As for the exact causes of the disease, they remain unknown for the time being. British health authorities consider an infectious cause to be the most likely.
However, they ruled out any link with the Covid vaccine, which was not administered to any of the confirmed cases in the United Kingdom.
Virginie Gerhard
