Acute hepatitis of unknown origin has been reported in some countries in Europe , World Health Organization (WHO) has reported.
WHO Disease Outbreak News announced the outbreak of the strange hepatitis in children on 15 April 2022.
Although the origin of the acute hepatitis is yet to be identified, scientists and health experts have associated it to adenovirus.
UK- Great Britain and Northern Ireland were the first countries to record the outbreak, the report disclosed.
The global health institution said further cases keep emerging from other European Nations following the initial announcement on April 15.
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WHO noted that health experts are investigating the particular causative agent of the disease on hypothesis of adenovirus.
As at 21 April 2022, WHO said it had received 169 reported cases of the acute hepatitis disease in 11 European and 1 North American WHO countries.
This was captured in the routine WHO Media Team release copied to the Africa Express Online on Saturday 23 April 2022.
Statistics of the outbreak:
The outbreak is recorded among children between the ages of 1 months and 16 years.
WHO further stated that at least one death has been reported whilst estimated ten percent (10%) of the infected children require lever transplant.
So far, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) have recorded 114 cases.
Spain and Israel have recorded 13 and 12 respectively.
Nine(9) cases have been reported in the USA, six(6)in Denmark, five (5) in Ireland and four(4) in The Netherlands and four(4) in Italy.
France and Norway have two (2) cases each while Romania and Belgium report one (1) case respectively.
Signs and symptoms:
According to the WHO report, signs and symptoms of the unknown acute hepatitis include liver inflammation with some elevated liver enzymes.
Gastrointestinal signs such as abdominal pains, diarrhea and vomiting are reported in many of the recorded cases.
Response and action:
The report said investigations are underway in countries where cases have been reported.
Infected countries have also initiated intensive surveillance on the the strange acute hepatitis outbreak.
WHO said it working closely with UK health authorities and other WHO Member States and global partners in monitoring the situation.
It also called for further efforts to identify new cases in listed affected countries and elsewhere.
WHO identified regular hand washing and “respiratory hygiene as the immediate preventives remedy against the adenovirus.
