The 8-year-old boy from the Santa Fe town of Rosario who is suffering from severe hepatitis of still unknown origin – a condition that has occurred in more than 200 children from 20 countries and which keeps the world scientific community on alert – is “In therapy and stable,” health sources in the province reported this Thursday.
“The case was detected in the city of Rosario of an 8-year-old boy with severe hepatitis of an undetermined cause. It is in the process of investigation and study. Hepatitis A, B and C have been ruled out but we are waiting for the results of D, E and other causes that we always study“, said the Minister of Health of Santa Fe, Sonia Martorano, at a press conference.
Meanwhile, he indicated that ruled out other outbreaks in the family nucleus of the child, reason why the doctors determined that it is “an isolated case”.
In this context, the minister specified that the minor is currently “in therapy and stable” and is expected “due to the evolution of the case in the next few hours”, although she maintained that he was admitted to the Children’s Hospital of the North Zone of Rosario, a center more complex care, due to the seriousness of the case.
In this sense, he explained that The medical team is working together with the Malbrán Institute and that in the next few hours they will send there “samples so that they can also participate in the investigation of the causes; We are working in a joint and coordinated manner.”
The WHO alert
On April 15, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published an alert on cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown cause in children in the UK and since then more cases have been reported.
“We are not talking about confirmed cases because the specific cause is currently unknown and under investigation. The reported cases refer to children with severe acute hepatitis where hepatitis A, B, C, D or E were not identified,” said PAHO. / WHO on its official page in a statement dated May 3.
On Wednesday, Enrique Pérez, manager of the Incident for Covid-19 and head of Information on Health Emergencies and Risk Assessment at PAHO, said during a press conference that so far there are “228 probable cases that were reported by 20 countries, mainly from the Europe region, but also from the Americas, Western Pacific and Southeast Asia”.
It also reported that “19 of these children have undergone liver transplantation and one died.”
According to international agencies, the Indonesian Ministry of Health reported last Monday that it had three other children who died from cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin.
For her part, the infectious disease doctor Leda Guzzi explained that “these are pictures of acute liver inflammation that occur in boys and girls up to 16 years of age whose cause is still unknown”.
However, he explained that “there are a couple of hypotheses about it could be an infection triggered by an adenovirus, specifically by the F41 subtype, which is a virus that normally causes a banal gastrointestinal picture and that can only very occasionally cause severe hepatitis in people with severe immunosuppression“.
The specialist pointed out that “another hypothesis revolves around the possibility that it is a post-Covid inflammatory manifestationsuch as those that produce the multisystem inflammatory syndrome that is well described in boys and girls and that is also quite rare”.
“In this case it would not be the direct action of the virus, but it is the deregulated immune system that generates the picture of multisystemic inflammation, eventually hepatic; Other causes that may have to do with a toxic or infectious origin are also being studied,” he indicated.
Guzzi stressed that “it is important emphasize that there is no link with the anticovid vaccine; In fact, according to the first notifications, none of these children were vaccinated for SARS-Cov-2 “.
Symptoms
In relation to the symptoms, the specialist described that “most of the reports relate gastroenteritis symptomsnamely abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting that precede the onset of jaundice, that is, the yellowish color of the skin and mucous membranes; Hepatitis typically manifests with jaundice, dark urine and pale stools, and occasionally fever.
“Because the origin (etiology) is unknown, it is not known whether it is an infectious-contagious disease, so preventive measures are now universal and have to do with cough hygiene and hand washing,” he said.
And added that “it is important not to panic” since these tables are being studied throughout the world and constitute “an extreme priority for the scientific world and the WHO”.
In this context, Guzzi pointed out that “we must wait for information to emerge from official sources and in the meantime continue with the recommended care, that is, the use of the mask indoors, constant and cross ventilation, immediate isolation if one presents any symptomatology, hand washing and of course completing the anticovid vaccination schedule “.
