The World Health Organization (WHO) is very alert for the serious increase in cases of acute childhood hepatitis of unknown origin is a “very urgent” issue to which they are giving “absolute priority”. “It is very urgent and we are giving absolute priority to this and to work very closely with the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control in management and coordination,” the WHO Regional Director of Emergencies, Gerald Rockenschaub, assured on Monday in Lisbon.
The specialist, who is in Portugal for the Universal Health and Preparedness Review (UHPR, in English) -a program to share resources between countries to prepare responses to public health emergencies-, explained that several countries have been put on notice to “be attentive to this more specifically”, following the increase in reported cases. “We are doing everything possible to quickly identify what is causing this and then take the appropriate measures, both nationally and internationally, “he stressed.
The first ten cases of this acute hepatitis were notified by the United Kingdom to the World Health Organization (WHO) on April 5, in children under ten years of age without previous ailments, and since then also Infections have been detected in Spain, Israel, Denmark, Italy, the United States and Belgiumamong others.
The age of those affected ranges between one month and 16 years, in most cases do not have a feverand the viruses associated with these ailments (hepatitis A, B, C, D and E) have not been detected in any of them, according to the health organization.
In Portugal, a country that has not yet detected cases, the General Directorate of Health announced the creation of a body of work to monitor the situation.