Mysterious Hepatitis Cases in Children: Acute Hepatitis of Unknown Origin 2022
Outbreak at a glance: Since the WHO Disease Outbreak News on Acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was published on 15 April 2022, there have been continuing further reports of cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin among young children. 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. While adenovirus is a possible hypothesis, investigations are ongoing for the causative agent. Outbreak overview On 5 April 2022, the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point (NFP) for the United Kingdom notified WHO of 10 cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in previously healthy young children (age range: 11 months to five-year-old) across central Scotland. Of these 10 cases, nine had onset of symptoms in March 2022 while one case had an onset of symptoms in January 2022. S...