A possible case of a mysterious form of child hepatitis has been found for the first time in Japan, the health ministry has said. Cases so far have mostly been reported in Europe.
The health ministry said Monday that the patient is 16 years old or younger but has not revealed their age, address or sex. The patient, who has been hospitalized, corresponds to the working definition of a ¡°probable case¡± of the acute, severe hepatitis provided by the World Health Organization, the ministry said.
, 169 cases of hepatitis of unknown origin, with one death, had been confirmed in 12 countries as of Thursday, with ages ranging from 1 month to 16 years old. Reported symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, yellowing of the skin (jaundice) and elevated liver enzyme levels.
In the new cases affecting children, hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D and E have been excluded after laboratory testing while further investigations are ongoing to understand their causes, the WHO has said, noting that more cases are likely to be reported in the coming days.
An adenovirus was detected in at least 74 cases, while the coronavirus was identified in 20 cases of those that were tested. Nineteen had a coronavirus and adenovirus coinfection.
The patient in Japan has tested negative both for the coronavirus and for an adenovirus ¡ª common viruses that can cause common cold-like symptoms or conditions such as gastroenteritis ¡ª and has no history of having had a liver transplant, according to the ministry.
¡°It is not yet clear if there has been an increase in hepatitis cases, or an increase in awareness of hepatitis cases that occur at the expected rate but go undetected,¡± the WHO said Saturday. ¡°While adenovirus is a possible hypothesis, investigations are ongoing for the causative agent.¡±
The WHO was first notified of cases of the mysterious hepatitis in Scotland on April 5.
¡°Factors such as increased susceptibility amongst young children following a lower level of circulation of adenovirus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the potential emergence of a novel adenovirus, as well as (coronavirus) coinfection, need to be further investigated,¡± the global health body said. ¡°Hypotheses related to side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines are currently not supported as the vast majority of affected children did not receive COVID-19 vaccination.¡±
Staff writer Chris Russell contributed to this report.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.