The alarm in Europe is growing for a sharp increase in cases of hepatitis among children. The nation most affected is the Great Britain with 108 confirmed cases at the moment.
Some cases have also been found in Italy and there are 4 children with hepatitis in our country. British scientists find this wave unusual. Then one wonders what is triggering it.
Many hypotheses are being made and the last one shared by several British scientists sees a possible connection with the covid and the consequent lockdown two years. Here because.
Hepatitis in children: masks and lockdown the possible cause?
There is an ongoing international investigation to ascertain what is triggering all of these hepatitis cases among children. Waiting for more correct data and information, various hypotheses are being made about the triggering cause.
British experts believe the new cases do not appear to be linked to the hepatitis virus already in circulation. There is a growing belief among scholars that a form of adenoviruswhich causes colds in most cases, but can also lead to more serious problems.
And second “The I”in the field of hypotheses there is also a lowering of immunitary defense in children due to the two-year pandemic and the consequent limitation of social relationships and the use of masks.
For two years, the children were restricted in social interactions and wore masks. By limiting the body’s immune response, a drop in defenses has been created.
Defenses that are now proving to be insufficient to face the new phase of coexistence with the covid and with the resumption of the circulation of many other viruses.
The least protected exposure therefore to these adenovirus it may have been a primary cause for the outbreak of acute hepatitis cases in children, including with serious consequences.
The hypothesis is also confirmed by a study published in the medical journal “Eurosurveillance” which estimates 77% of children with hepatitis in Britain to be adenovirus positive.
The other possible hypothesis according to British doctors
The other road taken by British scientists on what may have triggered this sudden and rapid increase in hepatitis cases is always the coronavirus.
The hypothesis is that of a possible modification of the adenovirus genome following the coronavirus positivity that would have helped generate the strain of acute hepatitis cases now on the rise.
According to scientists, the absence of a link between the hepatitis infection and the covid vaccine is certain. To say it are the numbers: none of the 108 children infected in Great Britain was vaccinated against the coronavirus as in the country the obligation goes from 12 years upwards and the cases have mainly occurred for children under 10 years of age.
More will be known next week when an international inquiry releases its findings.
Hepatitis in children: symptoms
Told of the still unknown origin of these hepatitis infections in children, the cases recorded in the United Kingdom have severe acute hepatitis with increased levels of liver enzymes and many cases were jaundiced.
The symptoms reported are abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. Most of the cases did not have a fever.
The greatest cases were recorded in children aged 2 to 5 years and for some of them it was necessary the liver transplantation.