Three Indonesian children have died of a mysterious liver disease, bringing to four the number of children worldwide who have died of acute childhood hepatitis of unknown origin, the Indonesian Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.
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The three children died in April in hospitals in Jakarta following showing some of the symptoms of the mysterious disease, according to the ministry.
This hepatitis mainly affects children under the age of 10, and is manifested by symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain, as well as inflammation of the liver. At least one death has so far been reported.
The three Indonesian children, aged two, eight and 11, presented with fever, jaundice, convulsions and loss of consciousness, ministry spokeswoman Siti Nadia Tarmizi told AFP.
For now, “we suspect that these are cases of acute hepatitis, but we need to confirm that they are not due to the known viruses of hepatitis A, B, C, D and Rb”, she added.
The Ministry of Health is researching the causes of the disease by testing a full sample of viruses.
The ministry advised parents to take their child to hospital immediately if he shows any suspicious signs of the disease.
Severe cases of hepatitis have been identified in nearly 170 children in 11 countries in recent weeks, prompting concern from the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding this disease of “unknown origin”.
On Tuesday, the WHO said it was continuing to receive reports of cases.
“Thus, as of May 1, at least 228 probable cases have been reported to WHO in 20 countries, and more than 50 other cases are under investigation,” said a WHO spokesperson.
The emergence of a possible new disease affecting only young children has caused alarm in the medical world.
The WHO has reported an “unexpected significant increase” in cases in previously healthy children in Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands.
In the United States, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention published a study on Friday on a cluster in Alabama, where nine children tested positive for adenovirus 41. This pathogen, responsible for gastroenteritis in children, “is not usually known to cause hepatitis in otherwise healthy children,” according to the Center.