- Michael Roberts
- Health editor, BBC
Baby Noah’s condition required a liver transplant
British experts believe that they have identified the hidden cause of the spread of liver problems in children around the world, during the last period.
Research indicates that the reason lies in the re-emergence of two known viruses, after the spread of the Corona virus epidemic, which caused the emergence of rare, but dangerous, inflammation of the liver in children.
Statistics recorded that 1,000 children were infected with the disease, many of them under the age of five, in 35 countries. In some cases, a liver transplant was required to save the life of the affected child.
Researchers from London and Glasgow say that children were exposed to the virus late due to the restrictions of the Covid epidemic, and they lost some immunity to:
- Adenoviruses that usually cause colds and abdominal pain.
- adeno-associated viruses that usually do not cause any disease, but require the presence of a “helper” virus such as adenovirus,
This explains the emergence of worrisome infections in the liver in some.
Among those injured is the child Noah, from Essex in England, who required a liver transplant after he contracted a serious infection.
His mother, Rebecca Cameron Kakintosh, described her experience with her son as devastating. “He wasn’t suffering from anything before, and suddenly his condition became serious, and that shocked us,” she says. And she continues, “We initially thought it was a small problem that would be easily treated, but his condition was getting worse over time.”
Liver transplant saved Noah’s life
Rebecca first gave her son a piece of her liver, but she ended up in intensive care due to a dangerous reaction in her body to the drugs used in the operation.
Noah was placed on the list of liver transplants, after which he underwent the operation, and he is now recovering well, but he needs to take immunosuppressive drugs for life, in order to avoid his body rejecting the transplanted liver for him.
“It’s heartbreaking to respect instructions and do what you are asked to protect others, and then your son gets hurt because you did what they asked you to do,” says Rebecca.
This case is very rare, and most children who contract this virus recover quickly.
It is not known why some children develop hepatitis, and genetic genes may have played a role in this development.
Scientists have ruled out any relationship to Covid disease or vaccines against the Corona virus.
Professor Judith Brewer, an expert in virology at University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital, says that the virus was not transmitted between children during the closure, because they did not mix, so they did not have the necessary immunity against infection with this virus.
And she continues: “After the restrictions were lifted, the children began mixing, and the virus began to spread, and they were exposed to it without immunity, which caused these infections.”
Professor Emma Watson, who led the research at the University of Glasgow, says many questions remain unanswered. What is needed is to expand research as quickly as possible to look at the role of AVV2 adeno-associated viruses in pediatric hepatitis.
“We need to understand more about the seasonal spread of AVV2 that is not monitored regularly, and it is possible that the peak of adenovirus prevalence coincided with the peak of exposure to AVV2 that led to the emergence of hepatitis in children.