With health officials all over the world saying they have detected more cases of a mysterious liver disease in children that was first identified in Britain, with new infections spreading to Europe and the US, the Health Ministry has instructed car providers in Israel to track cases of hepatitis in children that could be relevant.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Last week, British officials reported 74 cases of hepatitis, or liver inflammation, found in children since January. The usual viruses that cause infectious hepatitis were not seen in the cases, and scientists and doctors are considering other possible sources.
Additional cases of hepatitis had been identified in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a statement Tuesday without specifying exactly how many cases were found.
US officials have spotted nine cases in Alabama in children aged 1 to 6.
While it's unclear what's causing the illnesses, a leading suspect is an adenovirus. Only some of the children tested positive for coronavirus, but the World Health Organization said genetic analysis of the virus was needed to determine if there were any connections among the cases.
There are dozens of adenoviruses, many of them associated with cold-like symptoms, fever, sore throat and pink eye. US authorities said the nine Alabama children tested positive for adenovirus and officials there are exploring a link to one particular version – adenovirus 41 – that's normally associated with gut inflammation.
The WHO noted that although there has been an increase in adenovirus in Britain, the potential role of those viruses in triggering hepatitis is unclear. WHO said there were fewer than five possible cases in Ireland and three confirmed cases in Spain, in children aged 22 months to 13 years.
The UN health agency said that given the jump in cases in the past month and heightened surveillance, it was "very likely" more cases will be detected.
Public health officials ruled out any links to COVID-19 vaccines, saying none of the affected children was vaccinated.
Professor Ronen Arnon, director of the Pediatric Liver, Gastroenterology, and Pediatric Nutrition Institute at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, said, "Right now, it's not clear what is causing this outbreak. The assessment is that it is caused by a virus, but it has yet to be positively identified and at this stage, we don't know if it's a known virus or a new one."
"Meanwhile," Arnon said, "other hypotheses are being examined, including the possibility of a reaction to chemicals or toxins in those areas, or post-COVID syndrome. At this stage, we don't know much," Arnon said.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
