WHO announces over 900 probable cases of acute hepatitis reported in children

Small figurines are seen in front of the displayed logo of the World Health Organization in this illustration taken February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

June 24 (Reuters) – Thirty-three countries have reported 920 probable cases of severe acute hepatitis in children so far, a jump of 270 from May, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. ).

The WHO said the European Region accounted for half of the probable cases, including 267 from the UK, while a third of the probable cases came from the United States.

Health authorities around the world have been investigating the mysterious increase in severe cases of hepatitis – or inflammation of the liver – in young children. The outbreak was first reported in April in Britain and has since affected dozens of other countries. Read more

US health officials say infection with adenovirus, a common childhood virus, is the main hypothesis for the cases.

The latest WHO data was from June 22 and excluded four countries whose reported cases had not yet been classified.

Of the 422 cases for which sex and age information is available, almost half occurred in men, most of them under the age of 6, according to the report.

The WHO said 45 children with acute hepatitis required liver transplants and there were 18 deaths, most of them in the Americas region.

Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Aditya Soni

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