According to the CCTV News quoted by the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) on the 25th, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare issued a message on April 25 that the first case of children in Japan may have unexplained acute hepatitis. Sources pointed out that this is the first suspected case of hepatitis in Japan. But unlike most previous cases in Europe and the United States, the patient was not detected for adenovirus, according to the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK).
Japan Children Infographic CFP
The report quoted japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare as saying that the confirmed case is a child under 16 years old, and the patient has sought medical treatment. Japanese media also disclosed that previously, more than 40% of European and American patients were detected with adenovirus that would cause sore throat, but this Japanese case was negative in the adenovirus test. At present, japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is still investigating the cause of its infection.
According to reports, since April, the United Kingdom first appeared a case of unexplained hepatitis, and then spread to Spain, the United States and Denmark and other European and American countries.
Global confirmed figures as of the evening of 21 April 2022
On 5 April, the UK health department informed WHO of 10 cases of severe acute hepatitis in infants and young children of unknown etiology detected in central Scotland. The patients were between 11 months and 5 years of age and had no history of previous illness. The earliest case developed symptoms in January 2022, the remaining nine were detected in March, and all 10 cases were detected while hospitalized.
Ireland has also reported 5 cases following notification in the UK, which are currently under further investigation. In addition, Spain has also reported 3 confirmed cases of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology. The Spanish newspaper El País reported that one of the children needed a liver transplant.
Agence France-Presse reported on the 19th that the University Hospital of Lyon in France has received two children under the age of 10 who are suspected of suffering from rare unexplained acute hepatitis and are currently under investigation.
The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported on the 19th that more and more children have recently been infected with hepatitis of unknown origin, following the 74 cases earlier reported by the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain have also found cases, but no specific figures have been specified.
On the same day, according to the Associated Press, similar cases also occurred in the United States, and the southeastern state of Alabama reported that 9 children had similar cases. Helena Gutierrez, medical director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said that like some patients in the United Kingdom, nine children in the United States are very sick. "From severe hepatitis to acute liver failure, we've seen a full range of reports." She said.
According to the World Health Organization, as of April 21, 169 children in 12 countries in Europe and the United States have been infected with this unexplained hepatitis, of which the United Kingdom has the largest number, with 114, Spain 13, Israel 12, the United States 9 and Denmark 6. After the infection, children develop symptoms such as yellowing of the skin, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, joint pain and muscle pain, and 1 person has died so far.
On the 25th local time, the British Health Security Agency said that more and more evidence shows that a common virus is related to rare cases of hepatitis that have occurred in some young children recently.
According to CNN on April 25, the UK Health Safety Agency said in a briefing that "there may be a cofactor that causes normal adenovirus to show more severe clinical symptoms in younger children." For example, during the COVID-19 outbreak, children's susceptibility increased due to reduced environmental exposure, or co-infections that have not yet been detected, may also have emerged a new strain of adenovirus with changed characteristics. ”
Who Xinhua News Agency
In addition, the UK's Health Security Agency says another factor may be age-related. Infants have milder symptoms after infection with the virus, but older children are more likely to develop severe reactions after infection. At present, British scientists have set their sights on a specific adenovirus, namely F41 adenovirus, based on blood sample data, but scientists said that the genetic makeup of the virus needs to be observed before it can be finally confirmed.
According to the WHO official website quoted by China News Network on April 26, since the vast majority of affected children have not been vaccinated against the new crown, the hypothesis about the side effects of the new crown vaccine is not supported at present.
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