The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced on Friday that it had registered ten cases of hepatitis of unknown origin in children in the country, including one in Quebec, four in Ontario, three in Alberta and two in Manitoba.
Posted at 3:48 p.m.
Updated at 4:34 p.m.
The children were aged 1 to 13, and fell ill between November 3, 2021 and April 23, 2022. All of the children were hospitalized and two required liver transplants. No deaths have been reported, PHAC said in a statement. No cases are linked to known hepatitis such as A, B, C and E.
In Quebec, the Ministry of Health and Social Services confirms the report of a probable case of unknown severe hepatitis. “The child has received the appropriate care for his condition and his condition is improving,” said spokesperson Marie-Claude Lacasse.
The age, sex and institution where the sick child is hospitalized have not been specified in order to protect his identity.
Doctors have been alerted to be vigilant and report any probable cases. It is therefore expected that probable cases will be reported in Quebec as well as in all of Canada.
Marie-Claude Lacasse, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on May 10 that it had identified 348 probable cases of hepatitis of unknown origin in 20 countries. These previously healthy children suddenly developed hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver.
Severe acute hepatitis in children is a relatively rare health problem that sometimes occurs in Canada. Occasionally, it is impossible to find the cause. The ongoing investigation by PHAC is therefore trying to determine if these cases are linked to those identified elsewhere in the world and if there has been an increase in liver infections in recent months.
Each year, cases of severe hepatitis of unknown origin are reported in children, underlines the Ministry of Health and Social Services. “The international investigation aims to determine if there is currently an excess of cases compared to normal and, if so, to try to identify the possible cause,” explains Ms.me Lacasse.
Symptom monitoring
Most patients presented with yellowing of the skin and eyes, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, dark urine, pale stools, loss of appetite, fever and fatigue. “There are treatments even for cases of severe acute hepatitis where the cause is unknown, and the majority of children recover with medical care,” says the Public Health Agency of Canada, which urges parents to go consult if their child has these symptoms.
According to the WHO, the hypothesis of an infection by a virus to explain this mysterious disease which mainly affects children is the most likely. Adenoviruses are usually spread through personal contact, respiratory droplets and surfaces. They are known to cause respiratory symptoms, conjunctivitis or digestive disorders.
After two years of pandemic, the question of an immune “debt” which would make some children more fragile is raised by scientists. Due to confinement and COVID-19, children were not exposed to pathogens in the normal way, which may have made them more vulnerable to this virus, experts believe.
Separately, the role of COVID-19 vaccines has been ruled out, as a large majority of children were unvaccinated, the WHO said. Investigations are continuing in all countries that have reported cases.
With Agence France-Presse