A first case of the mysterious hepatitis which affects children has been reported in Belgium, the World Health Organization said on Saturday evening. Other cases are expected.
A first case of the mysterious childhood hepatitis has been reported in Belgium. “Hepatitis is an infection in the broad sense of the liver”, explains Xavier Stephenne, pediatrician in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Saint-Luc university clinics. The WHO (World Health Organization) confirms this acute case and Sciensano expects there to be more in the coming weeks. “This is a case of acute liver disease in a child which is similar to cases seen in the UK”, explained virologist Steven Van Gucht. The WHO had indeed announced last week to open an investigation into dozens of cases of severe childhood hepatitis of unknown origin which occurred first in the United Kingdom and Spain, before other cases appeared in Denmark. , the Netherlands and Spain. In the state of Alabama in the United States, nine cases have been reported in children aged 1 to 6 years. They all tested positive for adenovirus.
No deaths and classic symptoms of hepatitis
No deaths have been recorded but some British cases have required liver transplantation. Some of the cases were reporting gastrointestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting in the previous weeks. “Great fatigue is sometimes observed as well as jaundice”, explains Marc Hainaut, head of clinic at CHU Saint-Pierre in Brussels. These are classic symptoms of hepatitis.
Other cases expected in Belgium
The public health institute expects other cases. “We don’t know if there is a common cause. Adenovirus was found in the stool, but it could also be a coincidence. Adenovirus is very common in children. We asked doctors to report also other possible cases. It is very likely that there will be several other possible cases in the coming weeks. This is in line with our expectations.”commented the virologist, Saturday evening.
The cause of this mysterious liver disease is still unknown, Van Gucht added. “Also, we don’t yet know if there is a common cause, let alone if it was caused by a virus. We are still in the research stage.”
Globally, 169 cases have been recorded, most of them in the UK (114). All the patients are aged between 1 month and 16 years. Why does this disease particularly affect children? “One of the hypotheses would be that there has been less viral circulation following the various confinements, and perhaps children currently have less good immunity against various viruses”, adds Xavier Stephenne, pediatrician in gastroenterology and hepatology at Saint-Luc University Clinics.
According to this pediatrician, given the monitoring system set up in Belgium and Europe, the origin of this hepatitis will certainly be discovered in the coming weeks.