The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced on Friday that it had registered 10 cases of hepatitis of unknown origin 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.
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 the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is therefore trying to determine whether these cases are linked to those recorded elsewhere in the world and whether there has been an increase in liver infections in last months.
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 develops these symptoms.
According to the World Health Organization (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 susceptible to this virus, experts believe.
In addition, the role of vaccines against COVID-19 has been ruled out, since a large majority of children were not vaccinated, said the World Health Organization. Investigations are continuing in all countries that have reported cases.
With Agence France-Presse