Parents should take their children to hospital immediately if they notice symptoms of jaundice or acute hepatitis.
According to a statement issued by Health Minister, there has been increased surveillance of cases of acute hepatitis in children of unknown origin. He urged parents to take their children to hospital immediately if they notice any unusual symptoms.
According to the Ministry of Health, as of April 21, the WHO had received 169 cases of acute hepatitis in children of unknown origin in 12 countries, including 114 cases in the United Kingdom.
It is called acute hepatitis of unknown origin because no hepatitis A, B, C, D or E virus has been detected in the cases, which are still under investigation. Of the 169 cases, 74 were adenovirus positive and 20 were SARS-CoV-2 positive, 10% of which required liver transplantation.
Symptoms of acute hepatitis in children of unknown origin include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, lethargy or dark urine, and signs of jaundice.
Hepatitis A and E are usually transmitted by the faecal-oral route, which means that the virus is excreted in the patient’s faeces and contaminates food or water, and a person becomes infected after eating food or water contaminated with the hepatitis virus. Type B and C infections are transmitted through three routes: blood, sexual and mother-to-child.
It is important to pay attention to food hygiene in daily life, wash hands before and after meals, and share meals with communal chopsticks and spoons at group meals to reduce the transmission of hepatitis.
