UPDATE: Israel report death of a child as Acute Hepatitis cases rise to 228 cases in mysterious global outbreak

UPDATE: Israel report death of a child as Acute Hepatitis cases rise to 228 cases in mysterious global outbreak

Updated 3.31pm ( May 4) A Gaza child died on Tuesday after contracting an unexplained case of acute hepatitis – inflammation of the liver – the Gaza Health Ministry announced, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that at least 228 probable cases of childhood hepatitis had been reported worldwide.

Last week, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported a case of unexplained acute hepatitis in an eight-year-old boy. It is not yet clear whether the child who died on Tuesday is the same child who was diagnosed last week, as reported by NoticiasIsrael.

Original 3.54pm (May 3) The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported a total of 228 cases of acute hepatitis in children of unknown origin. More than 20 countries, almost double the number of those reported 10 days ago, are already affected.

Most cases have been reported in Europe, but cases have also been reported in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and South Asia, according to WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic. Four Global regions are already affected and 50 suspected cases are under investigation.

The UK Health Security Agency has said that adenoviruses, which are a family of common viruses normally the cause of mild colds, vomiting and diarrhoea, could be a factor in these hepatitis cases. Experts who are currently investigating and researching the mysterious child hepatitis outbreak have hypothesised that Covid lockdowns could have been a key factor in the weakening of children’s immunity, putting them at an increased risk of contracting an adenovirus.

A report by the Health Alerts and Emergencies Coordination Centre (Centro de Coordinación de Alertas y Emergencias Sanitarias), which reports to the Ministry of Health, detected two unconnected cases of acute hepatitis in Andalucia in people aged 0-16 years. The health authorities added that “according to the information received so far, we have not observed an increase in the number of cases of acute failure or severe acute hepatitis expected in paediatric age in Spain”, as reported by 20minutos