What if the coronavirus played a role in triggering pediatric hepatitis of unknown origin? This is what recent studies suggest.
- A total of 11 children died after contracting this hepatitis of unknown origin.
- After developing this infectious disease, 39 children underwent liver transplants.
In April, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that a cluster of cases of mysterious acute hepatitis in children in the UK had been identified. Since then, at least 450 children under the age of 5 have contracted this infectious disease in more than 20 countries. The vast majority of cases have been detected in the United Kingdom, the first state to alert the UN organization.
Adenovirus AD-41, the most likely suspect
According to Inserm, the track of an infection by the adenovirus AD-41 which would cause hepatitis is privileged, because in the United Kingdom for example, nearly 80% of the cases described had tested positive for an adenovirus. But “this track of the adenovirus is not yet confirmed”, can we read on his website.
In recent weeks, hypotheses highlighting the fact that Covid-19 was responsible for this liver pathology in toddlers have been put forward. According to WHO, “The virus has been detected in several cases. However, coronavirus circulation is currently widespread in the community in many affected countries and the potential contribution of this virus to the clinical picture is unclear.” She also clarified that most of the children reported have not received the Covid vaccine, “which excludes for the moment any link between the cases and the vaccination”.
Covid-19, a role in the wave of pediatric hepatitis?
Recently, several research suggested that the coronavirus may be involved in triggering hepatitis in children. This is the case ofa study published on the pre-publication site medRxiv. In the latter, researchers from Case Western Reserve University (USA) checked whether there was an increased risk of elevated serum liver enzymes and bilirubin after coronavirus infection in children. To do this, they analyzed a cohort of 796,369 children aged one to 10, including 245,675 who contracted the coronavirus between March 2020 and March 2022 and 550,694 who developed another respiratory infection during the same period.
“Compared to children infected with other respiratory infections, children infected with Covid-19 had a significantly higher risk of elevated serum liver enzymes and bilirubin levels. These results suggest acute and long-term liver sequelae. long term of Covid-19 in children”, can we read in these works. According to the scientists, further research is needed to clarify whether the liver damage occurring after Covid-19 infection described in this study is related to the current increase in cases of pediatric hepatitis of unknown origin.