The proliferation of cases of severe hepatitis of unknown origin among children around the world is still a mystery to scientists. The latest bulletin from the World Health Organization (WHO), dated April 29, states that “the etiology of the cases remains under investigation.” So far, laboratory tests have ruled out cases of known viral hepatitis.
Adenovirus 41 (respiratory disease virus) is suspected to be the cause of the disease, but still without confirmation. There is still another line that raises the possibility that hepatitis is related to the sequelae of covid-19, since, according to WHO data, most affected children have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
To date, 348 probable cases have been reported in 21 countries, with 26 children requiring liver transplantation and three dying. In Brazil, according to a survey carried out by the Health Surveillance Secretariat of the Ministry of Health, released on May 14, 47 cases of the disease were reported.
The Paraná State Health Department informed, in a note, that “it monitors daily the occurrences of cases and the evolution of investigations carried out in countries that are already presenting cases previously, in search of evidence that can direct and support the conduct already adopted by the Ministry of Health”. Paraná.”
To clarify the matter, the Brazil de Fact Paraná spoke with the deputy director of the Pequeno Príncipe Pediatric Hospital, infectious disease specialist Dr. Victor Horacio de Costa Junior.
Check out the interview:
Brasil de Fato – We have three cases of this hepatitis in Paraná and 42 more in Brazil. How have you, from the largest pediatric hospital in Brazil, been following this disease?
Dr. Victor Horácio de Costa Junior: It is still a hepatitis that has been shown to be extremely rare. It is important to remember that in the world only five countries have more than five cases described.
Are there any studies that confirm or come close to what is causing this hepatitis? Is there a relationship with the sequelae of covid-19?
What we know so far is that SarsCov2, the covid-19 virus, can stay as a colonizer in the intestines of children and, from there, that child has a greater load of the coronavirus in the intestine.
She can then, for example, contract an infection of the upper airways by an Adenovirus 41, this association will bring about an immune response that can cause inflammation in the liver. So far, that’s what we already know.
What kind of prevention is possible?
One of the preventions against this hepatitis is the vaccine against covid-19, because we know that the coronavirus is related to this more serious form [de hepatite].
Vaccinating children against covid-19 helps prevent this serious hepatitis. We even look forward to Anvisa releasing Coronavac for children under five years old. So far, what we have observed in the world literature, 83% of the cases of this hepatitis are in children in this age group and, therefore, not vaccinated.
Source: BdF Paraná
Editing: Frédi Vasconcelos and Lia Bianchini
