Cases of childhood hepatitis, unrelated to the outbreak in the United Kingdom, says López Gatell
Laura Poy, Carolina Gomez and Jessica Xanthomila
Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday May 15, 2022, p. 8
The Undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, Hugo López-Gatell, called for calm in the face of confirmed cases of severe acute hepatitis in minors in the country, and explained that does not appear to be a rapidly spreading disease
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In statements made on Friday in Cuernavaca, Morelos, and subsequently released by the Ministry of Health, he indicated that to date 11 cases have been studied in Mexico (four confirmed in Nuevo León), of which seven were detected in Mexico City and Quintana Roo, but it was found that they are not related to the outbreak in the United Kingdom and other European countries.
He explained that annually in the country there are 1,600 cases of hepatitis of various causes, of which almost 40 percent the cause is never known, because medically it is not possible to detect it; So the phenomenon is not unusual.
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On May 10, the Pan American Health Organization issued a technical note on severe acute hepatitis in which it states that no etiological agent has been identified as the cause. In the analyzed samples, although there is presence of adenovirus in blood or plasma, the viral loads are low.
The presence of this agent in the liver tissue samples of the patients analyzed has not been determined, so it could be a coincidental rather than a causal factor.
emphasizes the multinational body.
rare event
In turn, Roberto Vázquez Campuzano, an academic from the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), pointed out that hepatitis in children is a rare event, that is, it does not occur frequently. He considered that for this reason the new outbreak is attracting attention. It’s not something that happens on a regular basis.
he underlined.
The specialist, from the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, explained that among the hypotheses being studied about the emergence of this condition is its possible relationship with SARS-CoV-2; another is associated with adenovirus 41, which has been isolated in most cases, and is associated with gastroenteritis.
In the case of the new outbreak, it is analyzed whether the hepatitis is caused by intoxication with any medication. Until now, several have been handled, such as paracetamol, which is very frequently used in the pandemic
but the investigation continues, he clarified.
On May 4, the National Committee for Epidemiological Surveillance issued a notice to all medical units in the country requesting that they be alert to any suspicious cases and notify them. López-Gatell emphasized that none of those detected so far are related to foreign travel.
