Spain registers the first three cases of childhood hepatitis that has Europe on alert

Spain has registered the first three cases of an acute hepatitis of unknown origin that has Europe on alert. The three children, aged between two and seven years old, come from Madrid, Aragón and Castilla-La Mancha and are admitted to the La Paz Hospital in the capital. All three are progressing favourably, although one of them has required a liver transplant.

The notification of the cases in Spain comes after the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a health alert after detecting an increase in cases of acute hepatitis in children in recent weeks in the UK, where there are 70 cases under investigation. Now, these health organizations are sending the information to national health authorities to find out if there are more cases in other countries.

As detailed by the ECDC, the clinical syndrome in identified cases is severe acute hepatitis with markedly elevated transaminases. Often this hepatitis is presenting with jaundice, sometimes preceded by gastrointestinal symptoms including vomiting as a prominent feature in children up to 16 years of age. For now, the cause of hepatitis in these cases is unknown. The common viruses that can cause hepatitis (hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses) have not been detected in any of the cases, notes the ECDC.

Last Monday, the Ministry of Health sent the autonomous communities an international health alert decreed by the World Health Organization as a result of the cases detected in the child population of the United Kingdom.