Health officials said they have discovered more cases of the mysterious liver disease in children that was first identified in Britain, with new infections spreading in Europe and the United States.
Last week, British officials reported 74 cases of hepatitis in children since January. The usual viruses that cause infectious hepatitis did not appear in the detected cases, and scientists and doctors are considering other possible sources, including (Covid-19), other viruses and environmental factors.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said, in a statement today (Tuesday), that additional cases of hepatitis were identified in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, without specifying the exact number of cases that were found. The center stated that US officials monitored nine cases of acute hepatitis in Alabama in children between the ages of 1 and 6 years.
“Mild hepatitis is very common in children after a range of viral infections, but what we’re seeing at the moment is very different,” said Graham Cook, professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London.
Cook noted that some cases in the UK require specialized care in liver units, and a few require a liver transplant. Cook refused to link the mysterious infection to the Corona virus, according to the Associated Press.
“If hepatitis is the result of Covid, it would be surprising not to see it spread so widely across the country given the high prevalence of (Covid-19) at the moment,” Cook said.
“Currently, the exact cause of hepatitis in these children is still unknown,” the European Center for Disease Control said.
Read also: “World Health”: mysterious cases of hepatitis in children in Britain
British scientists previously said one possible cause they were investigating was adenoviruses, a family of common viruses usually responsible for conditions such as pink eye, sore throat or diarrhoea.
And US authorities indicated that the nine children infected with acute hepatitis in Alabama tested positive for adenovirus.
Some doctors have noted that adenoviruses are very common in children, and that the infection of children with any glandular infections does not necessarily mean that these viruses are the cause of the mysterious liver disease.
For their part, British public health officials have ruled out any link to the (Covid-19) vaccines, saying that none of the infected children have been vaccinated.
The World Health Organization indicated that although there is an increase in adenoviruses in Britain, which are circulating at the same time as (Covid-19), the potential role of these viruses in causing hepatitis is unclear. Some children have tested positive for the coronavirus, but the World Health Organization has said genetic analysis of the virus is necessary to determine if there is any link between the cases.
No other links have been found between the children in the UK and none have recently traveled internationally, according to health officials, and lab tests are also being conducted to determine if a chemical or toxin is to blame.
The World Health Organization said there were fewer than five probable cases in Ireland and three confirmed cases in Spain in children aged 22 months to 13 years. The organization had called on all countries to “identify, examine and report potential cases in proportion to the definition of each case.”
The UN health agency said that given the jump in cases in the past month and tight surveillance, it is very likely that more cases will be discovered before the cause of the outbreak can be determined.