At least 16 suspected cases of severe acute hepatitis in children in Brazil are followed up by the state health departments, with six cases being investigated in Rio de Janeiro, seven in São Paulo, two in Paraná, and one in Santa Catarina.
The number of cases under investigation, however, is in disagreement with the data reported by the Ministry of Health, which, so far, has released nine investigations of the disease, including one in Espírito Santo. THE CNN the folder explained that an updated balance will be informed in the coming hours.
The mysterious disease, still of unknown cause, was recently detected in the country and draws the attention of pediatricians and medical entities due to the high alteration of intracellular enzymes (transaminases) and, in some cases, preceded by gastrointestinal symptoms.
THE CNN the pediatrician representing the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP), Renato Kfouri, reported that the disease may be related to the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and the suspicion is that it may have left a predisposition in children to develop the liver disorder .
On the 24th, the Ministry of Health sent the states a risk statement warning health services to be aware of cases of severe acute hepatitis. The cases registered in Brazil so far include children between eight and four years of age. In a note, the State Secretary of Health of Rio requested attention from parents in case children show symptoms and confirmed the death of an eight-month-old baby.
“Of the six suspected cases investigated by municipal surveillance with the support of state surveillance, three are residents of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro (a 4-year-old child, an 8-year-old child and a 2-month-old baby), one from Niterói (a child 3 years old) and one from Araruama (2 years old child). An 8-month-old baby, resident of Maricá, died and the investigation is also ongoing. It is important for parents and guardians to be aware of children’s symptoms. If there is any suspicion, they should be immediately taken to a health facility so that they can be diagnosed and treated.”
In a note, the São Paulo State Health Department said that “it is monitoring six patients and awaits the completion of the diagnostic tests and the entire epidemiological investigation. Also according to the organ, only two of these patients are hospitalized and the others are progressing well”.
Pediatrician Renato Kfouri also said that among the cases under investigation, the presence of adenovirus 42 was identified, which could justify a co-infection. However, the situation is considered “intriguing”, because the virus was not found in 100% of the cases.
“Two-thirds of these children who developed this condition are because they have a cold condition, adenovirus 41. They sequenced their genome and for now it seems to be the same adenovirus that was circulating. It’s not a new, mutated adenovirus, so these cases are very intriguing. It is not known if it is from covid, if it is a co-infection of covid with this adenovirus, because it was not found in all cases, which could be some laboratory failure, but there is a lot of investigation on top.”
Also according to the pediatrician, the relationship between the disease and the vaccine is far away, contradicting rumors and false news that are already circulating on the internet. On the contrary, due to their young age, most of the affected children had not yet been vaccinated against Covid-19.
“There is nothing to do with the vaccine. Almost none of these children were vaccinated, so we discarded the vaccine. Children start with gastrointestinal symptoms, vomiting, stomachache, diarrhea, yellow eyes, skin, dark urine, pale stools, and hepatitis tests change liver enzymes and everything else. This is the picture that has been presented in practically all of them.”, she summarized.
Doctor Marco Aurélio Sáfadi, president of Infectious Diseases at the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP), said in an interview with CNN who received one of the suspected cases under investigation in the city of São Paulo, and pointed out that the symptoms are similar to those described in other cases around the world. The specialist also emphasized the importance of being aware of these symptoms.
“Approximately 5% to 10% of the cases that have been described in the world end up evolving into this fulminant form. Then there appears that aspect that we call hectericia, the yellowish coloring of the skin, and an important hepatitis develops in some, we observe an injury to the liver, through the enzymes that are produced by the organ in children who are hospitalized”, he explains.
In early April, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a worldwide alert on cases of severe acute hepatitis recorded in the UK where the causative agent of the disease was unknown.
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can have a variety of causes, from viral infections to excessive consumption of alcohol, some medications and toxic substances. The main viruses that cause hepatitis are A, B, C, D and E.
There are also autoimmune hepatitis, which are chronic diseases in which the individual’s own immune system attacks the liver cells, causing inflammation and alteration of the organ’s function.
Source: CNN Brasil
