Share

Eased Covid-19 restrictions linked to hepatitis outbreak

accreditation

THE irony of the coronavirus is that while

Europe, as well as the West, is the epicentre of the pandemic, it arguably has the least restrictions to curb the prevalence of the scourge.

Thus, the region has come under the spotlight amid indications that the relaxation of pandemic restrictions are behind the recent outbreak of a deadly hepatitis of unknown origin.

Among the restrictions that Western governments have eased include travel limitations, while thousands have been converging at sports venues and festivities across the region.

As the world comes to terms with Covid-19, the emergence of hepatitis among the minors is escalating into a global cause for concern.

The United Nations’ World Health Organisation (WHO) has at the time of publication confirmed that more than 700 probable cases had been reported to it from 34 countries.

A further 112 cases were under investigation.

At least 38 of these children have needed liver transplants.

Ten have died from the mysterious strain of hepatitis.

WHO continues working with countries to investigate the cause of hepatitis in these children with the outbreak remaining a mystery.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, disclosed that so far, the five viruses (including hepatitis A, B, C, D and E) that commonly cause hepatitis had not been detected in any of these cases.

“WHO receives reports of unexplained hepatitis in children every year, but a few countries have indicated that the rates they are seeing are above what is expected,” he said.

Experts have sought to solve the puzzle and the relaxation of Covid-19 apparently is to blame.

“Alternatively, as has been seen with other respiratory viruses, relaxation of pandemic restrictions could have led to a massive wave of adenovirus infections, allowing a rarer outcome of infection to be detected,” The Lancet stated in its recent Infectious Diseases note.

It can be no coincidence that a majority of these mysterious cases of hepatitis among children have been reported from the United Kingdom.

In mid last month, the United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disclosed 36 states and territories had reported 180 cases of hepatitis of unknown cause impacting children over the past seven months.

This was an increase from the 109 publicly reported in the first week of last month.

Meanwhile, adenoviruses have become central to investigations but not all children have tested positive for adenovirus.

Carissa Etienne, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) director, said acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children and other respiratory infections were testing the health systems of the region.

The emergence of hepatitis of unknown cause in children is a setback to the WHO’s targets to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.

As experts seek answers, it remains to be seen whether the hepatitis among children are post-infectious sequelae of SARS-CoV-2.

In the United Kingdom for example, according to Lancet, a decline in the number of new cases of the hepatitis of unknown cause in the two weeks before 6 May coincided with a decline in cases of SARS-CoV-2.

SARS-CoV-2 is the acronym for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a strain of coronavirus that causes Covid-19. – CAJ NEWS

Get the best in Soccer, News and Lifestyle content with SNL24 PLUS
For 14 free days, you can have access to the best from Soccer Laduma, KickOff, Daily Sun, TrueLove and Drum. Thereafter you will be billed R29 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed.
Subscribe to SNL24 PLUS
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
What do you value most personally?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Earning tons of money
0% - 0 votes
Career Progression
50% - 1 votes
Work-Life balance
50% - 1 votes
Vote
Let us know what you think

Contact the People’s Paper with feedback on stories and how we could make dailysun.co.za even better!

Learn more
Do you have a story for the People’s Paper?

Click below to contact our news desk and share your story with SunLand!

Let's do it!