Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – At least 169 cases of acute hepatitis have been identified in children aged between one month and 16 years, in an outbreak that now includes 11 countries, the World Health Organization said Saturday.
Of the acute hepatitis cases, at least one child died, and 17 required liver transplants, the World Health Organization said in a press release.
The organization added in a statement: “It is not yet clear whether there is an increase in cases of hepatitis, or an increase in awareness of cases of hepatitis that occur at the expected rate, but are not detected,” explaining: “While adenovirus is a possible hypothesis, investigations are still pending.” ongoing investigation into the causative agent.
The statement pointed out that the clinical syndrome “among the cases identified is acute hepatitis, with a marked increase in liver enzymes.”
Many people reported gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting “pre-onset of severe acute hepatitis”, as well as increased levels of liver enzymes, or alanine aminotransferase, and yolk.
The organization said that the majority of reported cases did not have a fever, and common viruses that cause acute viral hepatitis, such as hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses, were not detected in any of these cases.
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver, a vital organ that processes nutrients, purifies the blood, and helps fight infections.
When the liver is inflamed or damaged, its function can be affected.
Most often, hepatitis is caused by a virus. Adenoviruses are a common type of virus that spreads from person to person and can cause a range of mild to severe illnesses.
But these viruses are rarely reported to cause acute hepatitis in otherwise healthy people.
The organization stated that the investigation into the cause needs to focus on several factors such as “the increased sensitivity among young children following the low level of circulation of adenovirus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the possible emergence of a new adenovirus, as well as the co-infection with SARS-CoV-2.”
The majority of cases, 114 of them, were reported in the United Kingdom.
The World Health Organization reported 13 cases in Spain, 12 in Israel, 9 in the United States, and fewer confirmed cases in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, France, Romania and Belgium.
On Thursday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Control (CDC) issued a health advisory that alerted health care providers and public health authorities to investigate acute hepatitis cases of unknown causes.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that providers consider testing for adenovirus in children with hepatitis when the cause is unknown, adding that testing the whole blood, not just plasma, may be more sensitive.
