Hepatitis in children has puzzled researchers worldwide. Now it seems clear: another virus is probably partly responsible for the cases.
Munich – Mysterious cases of hepatitis amazed researchers: children became infected, but no hepatitis viruses were found in them. Now the case is apparently solved, because three studies come to the same explanation for this mystery. It is said to be a previously unnoticed virus.
In the spring of 2022, the strange cases became public for the first time. According to the WHO, around 1000 cases of severe hepatitis occurred in children. About 50 of them had to undergo liver transplantation because of liver inflammation, but at least 22 of them did not survive. The children had previously been healthy, but no hepatitis viruses could be found afterwards.
Virus AAV2: It cannot cause diseases itself
Now researchers explain the puzzle with the virus AAV2. In the journal Nature three independent studies are summarized. In University College London, in Glasgow, Scotland, and at the University of California, high concentrations of AAV2 were sometimes found in liver and blood tissue samples. So far, science has been under the assumption that the virus cannot cause any diseases.
Alone it really can’t do this, but AAV2 got support. Traces of an adenovirus and a herpesvirus were also found, which may have allowed AAV2 to multiply. According to California, “We were surprised by the fact that the infections we found in these children were not caused by an unusual emerging virus, but by common childhood viral pathogens,” said Charles Chiu, lead author of the US study, in a statement. Epstein-Barr virus or herpes virus was found in all sick children in California.
The rare infectious disease Q fever has been detected in the district of Lüneburg. Several people are already infected.
Connection with Corona? “The timing of the outbreak could be explained with it”
The fact that the tests were carried out on two continents makes them more valuable, says Frank Tacke from the Berlin Charité. “All three studies make the same observation of AAV2 in children with unexplained acute hepatitis,” he comments. However, he also criticizes that they were carried out retrospectively and that only a few cases or liver samples were examined. The authors of the study also admit that it remains unclear what role AAV2 plays in liver inflammation. There is only “limited direct evidence” that it could cause hepatitis. There is a theory in Glasgow that hereditary factors may be the cause of the disease, rather than AAV2. 93 percent of the sick children were carriers of a gene variant susceptible to autoimmune diseases.
Another theory relates to the corona virus, because the hepatitis wave occurred at the same time as the worldwide relaxation of the corona measures. Tacke says: “The timing of the outbreak could be explained by the fact that the children were suddenly exposed to a flood of viruses after the closures or had a poorly developed immune system, which led to an increased susceptibility to otherwise harmless viruses.” Chiu explains, “It could be an unintended consequence of what we’ve seen over the past two to three years of the pandemic.” The good news, however, is that fewer children are getting severe hepatitis. To protect yourself, the researchers recommend washing your hands frequently and isolating yourself at home if you are ill, as was the case during Corona. (cgsc)
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