The Ministry of Health monitors nine suspected cases of acute childhood hepatitis in Brazil. The investigation continues in Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Espírito Santo.
The Centers for Strategic Information on Health Surveillance (CIEVS) monitor, together with the National Hospital Surveillance Network (RENAVEH), any change in the epidemiological profile, as well as the detection of suspected cases of the disease.
The orientation of the folder, health professionals and the National Network for Surveillance and Alert and Response to Emergencies in Public Health of the Unified Health System (VigiAR-SUS), is that any suspicion is reported immediately.
Hepatitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the liver.
There are five main strains of the hepatitis virus, referred to as types A, B, C, D, and E. Although they all cause liver disease, they differ in important ways, including modes of transmission, severity of illness, geographic distribution, and prevention methods.
In most cases, viral hepatitis are silent diseases that do not show symptoms over the years. Usually, the disease is already in a more advanced stage when the signs appear.
The most common are fever, weakness, abdominal pain, nausea, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, dark urine, yellow eyes and skin (jaundice), and whitish stools.
In Brazil, three suspects were reported in Paraná, four in Rio de Janeiro, one in São Paulo and one in Espírito Santo.
Acute childhood hepatitis worldwide
On April 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) published an alert on cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children in United Kingdom.
Since then, there has been additional case reports continuous due to notifications in other countries such as Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Spain and the United States of America.
The WHO said last week that it had received reports of at least 228 probable cases of childhood hepatitis or inflammation of the liver in 20 countries.
The causative agent of the disease in children is still unknown. Adenovirus, which is a possible hypothesis, was found in at least 74 cases, and of the number diagnosed with information on molecular tests, 18 were identified as F type 41.
SARS-CoV-2 – coronavirus – was identified in 20 people tested. In addition, 19 were detected with a SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus co-infection.
*With information from Lucas Rocha, from CNN
Source: CNN Brasil
