On April 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of the appearance of a hepatitis of unknown origin in children under ten years of age in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Many affected countries
Since the alert, other European countries are concerned, but also outside Europe. There are indeed cases in Spain, France, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Italy, Romania, Belgium, as well as in the United States and Israel. Today we come to 170 cas counted. Some of them, extremely serious, required liver transplantet a child has died.
Common viruses not detected
Scientists are concerned regarding the appearance of this new hepatitis, because no type A, B, C, D or E virus was detected. As for the symptoms, they are diverse: abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, jaundice.
Several causes considered
For now, scientists have three leads:
– Adenoviruses : these viruses were found in 74 children. These are common viruses which generally cause bronchitis, conjunctivitis and gastroenteritis. In the case of these hepatitises, it might be a new strain of adenovirus.
– La Covid-19 : in 20 of…
