WHO stated that 35 countries in five regions have recorded more than 1,000 probable cases of severe acute hepatitis in children.
The World Health Organization has been closely monitoring the perplexing spread of hepatitis in previously healthy children. The disease has resulted in dozens of youngsters requiring life-saving liver transplants.
35 nations in five WHO regions reported 1010 possible cases and 22 fatalities between 5 April and 8 July 2022. Three other nations have reported instances that are awaiting classification and are not counted within the total number of suspected cases.
Out of the suspected instances, 2% of deaths were reported to WHO, and 46 children need transplants.
The WHO reported that
“Since the previous Disease Outbreak News published on 24 June 2022, 90 new probable cases and four additional deaths have been reported to WHO. Additionally, two new countries, Luxembourg and Costa Rica, have reported probable cases,”
Nearly half of the likely instances are in Europe, where 21 nations have recorded 484 cases. This counts 272 cases in the United Kingdom, which accounts for 27% of the global total. With a regional average of 435 cases, America follows next, with 334 cases in the United States.
The average accounts for a third of the worldwide total. The next region with the highest cases in the Western Pacific Region, with 70 cases, followed by Southeast Asia (nineteen cases) and the Eastern Mediterranean Region (two cases).
In the Lab
According to laboratory examinations, the affected youngsters showed negative results for hepatitis A through E. Although the data is lacking, other infections, including the coronavirus were found in a handful of instances.
The UN health agency said, “the most often discovered pathogen” in cases of pediatric hepatitis had been adenoviruses. They are known to cause a broad range of symptoms, including colds, fever, sore throats, and pneumonia.
The WHO has initiated a global survey to estimate the incidence of severe acute hepatitis of unclear aetiology in 2022 about the incidence for the preceding five years. This is being done to ascertain where cases and liver transplants are happening at greater than predicted rates.
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