American cases have occurred in the last seven months. If 90 % of children had to be hospitalized, they then healed in the majority of cases. For 14 % of them, a liver transplant was necessary.
Le Monde with AFP
The American health authorities announced, Friday, May 6, that they were investigating in 109 cases of unexplained hepatitis in children in the United States, five of whom led to deaths.
These cases of severe inflammation of the liver have been detected in 25 American states and territories, and affected children have a median age of only 2 years, said a head of prevention and combat centers (CDC) at a press conference. Outside the United States, more than 200 cases have been identified, especially in Europe.
vaccination against COVVI-19 “is not the cause”
“Vaccination against COVVI-19 is not the cause” of this disease, insisted Jay Butler, deputy director responsible for infectious diseases for CDCs, saying that he wants to put an end to rumors circulating on the Internet. Because of their young age, the children concerned were mostly not eligible to be vaccinated against the COVVI-19.
He said that COVVI-19 infection was, however, dismissed as a potential cause. CDCs, however, favor the track of a certain type of adenovirus – fairly common viruses but which have so far not been known to cause hepatitis in healthy children. It was confirmed that more than half of the children affected in the United States had been tested positive for the so-called “type 41” adenovirus. “Investigators here and around the world work hard to determine the cause,” said Jay Butler.
American cases have occurred in the last seven months, he said. If 90 % of children had to be hospitalized, they then healed in the majority of cases. For 14 % of them, a liver transplant was necessary. “We know that this news can be worrying, especially for parents of young children. It is important to remember that these severe hepatitis are rare,” wanted to reassure Mr. Butler.