HULL, England: A recent spate of severe liver inflammation, or hepatitis, has been reported in previously healthy children. As of Apr 21, there have been 169 confirmed cases of “acute hepatitis of unknown origin” in children in 12 countries, with the vast majority of cases (114) occurring in the United Kingdom. Many of the children are under ten years old.
What has been very concerning for health professionals reporting on these cases is the severity of the disease in these young, otherwise healthy children. Seventeen have needed a liver transplant, and one child has died of liver failure.
The number of transplants is far higher than what has been typically seen over similar time periods in previous years. While acute hepatitis is not unheard of in children, these latest figures are unprecedented, and so far, only partly explained.
One suspect is infection by an adenovirus. According to the UK Health Security Agency, adenovirus was the most common pathogen found in 40 of 53 confirmed cases tested in the UK. The agency said that “investigations increasingly suggest that the rise in severe cases of hepatitis may be linked to adenovirus infection but other causes are still being actively investigated”.
ADENOVIRUS INFECTION A POSSIBLE CAUSE?
Adenoviruses are a large group of viruses that can infect a wide range of animals as well as humans. They got their name from the tissue they were initially isolated from – the adenoids, or tonsils.
Adenoviruses have at least seven distinct species, and within those species, there are genetic variants just like we see with coronaviruses and other viruses. In this case, instead of variants, they are referred to as subtypes.
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