Beijing, 29 Apr (Xinhua) -- The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, a health and epidemic prevention agency under the European Union, released a risk assessment report on the 28th, paying attention to the recent increase in cases of acute hepatitis in children of unknown causes reported in many European countries.
The report notes that although the incidence is "very low," the situation constitutes a "public health event of concern" given that the pathogen has so far been unidentified and some of the children are in a serious condition.
This is an ambulance photographed outside a hospital in Liverpool, England, on April 1. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Jon Humper)
On the same day, the World Health Organization said that for now, such cases are not related to COVID-19 vaccination and may be caused by an adenovirus.
As of 20 April, the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 111 cases of acute hepatitis of unknown cause in children in the United Kingdom, and as of 27 April, 12 countries in the European Economic Area have reported a cumulative total of 55 suspected or confirmed cases, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Spain.
Outside Europe, the United States and Israel each reported 12 cases, and Japan reported 1 case.
People wear masks and ride a bus in Berlin, the German capital, on April 1. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Stefan Zetz)
The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention believes that although systematic monitoring has not yet been carried out, the current incidence rate seems to be "very low". Due to the unknown pathogen and unclear signs of human-to-human transmission, cases are in an EU-wide state of "sporadic with undesirable trends", so it is not possible to accurately estimate the health risks of the disease to the European child population at this stage.
The report points out that most of the children are under 10 years old, many of them are under 5 years old, and none of the children have underlying medical conditions before the onset of the disease. At present, most cases have recovered, but several children have developed acute liver failure and need to undergo liver transplantation. The agency recommends strengthening surveillance and hygiene measures to prevent the disease from spreading.
On the day of the report, the Ministry of Health of Cyprus notified two cases of acute hepatitis in children of unknown origin, aged 5 and 4 years, who became ill in November and March of this year respectively.
Passengers wear masks at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on April 14. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Shen Ting)
Earlier that same day, Richard Peybodi, an infectious disease specialist at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, said that WHO had recorded about 170 such cases in 16 countries, most of which were concentrated in Europe, with patients aged between 1 month and 16 years, about 10% of cases requiring liver transplantation, and at least 1 case had died.
No common hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E viruses have been detected in the detected cases, with at least 20 patients testing positive for COVID-19 and 19 patients infected with both COVID-19 and adenovirus.
Kyriakitis, the European Commission's commissioner for health and food safety, wears a mask after a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on April 27. Kyriakitis said at a press conference on the same day that it is estimated that as of now, 60% to 80% of the EU population has been infected with the new crown virus. EU member states need to be highly vigilant and prepared for new outbreaks and mutated viruses," "because the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet.". Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zheng Huansong
Philippa Eastbrook, a medical specialist at WHO's Global Programme on AIDS, Pneumonia and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, said the survey found that most of the children were not vaccinated against COVID-19, "so there does not appear to be a link between the two at the moment"; adenovirus was detected in some cases, which is a "sign of hope [to determine the cause]".
The British health agency said on the 25th that of the 111 cases of acute hepatitis of unknown causes recently reported in the United Kingdom, 10 children received liver transplantation, and no cases have died. Investigators detected adenovirus in 40 confirmed cases. The investigation also concluded that the condition was not related to COVID-19 vaccination, based on the fact that most of the children were under the age of 10 and had not been vaccinated against COVID-19; investigations into a small number of cases over the age of 10 are ongoing. (Shen Min)