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Mexico studies 21 cases of acute childhood hepatitis of unknown origin

2022-05-18T04:57:32.331Z


Undersecretary López-Gatell rules out that it is an “unusual” number and says that there is no evidence that it is a rapidly spreading disease, while the WHO redoubles efforts to find the causes


The Undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, Hugo López-Gatell, during the morning press conference on May 17, 2022, at the National Palace. Mario Guzman (EFE)

Mexico already has 21 cases of acute childhood hepatitis, according to official figures.

The disease has put the World Health Organization (WHO) on alert because its origin is not yet known and it has indicated at the beginning of the month that it is “very urgent” that the countries focus on gathering information that allows identifying the causes and take actions to curb contagion “as an absolute priority”.

The Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, has confirmed this Tuesday that 17 new cases have been detected in recent days, in addition to the four that were registered in Nuevo León last week, but has called for calm by pointing out that it is not an "unusual" increase and that there are no indications that it is spreading quickly.

“So far there is no indication that it is an infectious disease, nor is it ruled out,

we are going to be studying it”, the official pointed out.

"The positive element is that the analysis of data from Mexico and the world suggests that it is not a rapidly spreading disease," he added.

Acute childhood hepatitis causes inflammation in the liver and the WHO has indicated that it has symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever, muscle pain and, above all, jaundice, a yellow coloration in the eyes and skin.

The disease has drawn the attention of the international organization because it is not related to the types of viral hepatitis that were previously known and because the children who have contracted it were healthy.

It was detected for the first time in the United Kingdom in early April and has spread to at least twenty countries, mainly in Europe.

The global risk, according to international experts, is low because the cases still number in the hundreds and because they are mostly mild.

There has been, however,

a small proportion of severe cases that have required transplants or have led to patient death.

Until last week, health authorities estimated that there had been 11 deaths in the world.

The four cases detected in Nuevo León at the beginning of the month were reported stable.

López-Gatell has pointed out that the disease is also present in the states of Durango, San Luis Potosí and Sinaloa.

The health authorities stressed that an epidemiological notice was issued for a month to identify patients with acute childhood hepatitis and to carry out laboratory tests to help elucidate the causes.

The problem of not knowing the origin is that it is not known what specific actions can stop the disease, especially in light of the relaxation of measures against covid-19, which had shown signs of being effective in containing other diseases such as influenza.

“At the moment, there is no action that the population should take specifically, since the cause is unknown and the number of cases is very,

very small compared to the enormous number of cases of hepatitis for which a cause has been found”, the undersecretary pointed out.

The recommendation of international bodies is to seek medical attention if symptoms are observed.

The WHO has ruled out for the moment that there is a link between the prevalence of hepatitis in children and vaccination against covid.

In fact, most of the infected children had not received the vaccine.

Nor do they appear to be related to foreign travel, according to López-Gatell.

The most advanced line of research is that the disease is related to an adenovirus, a common virus that causes gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, and that has been found in some cases, but there are no conclusive results that it is an underlying cause.

In the United States there have been more than a hundred cases and five deaths, according to official figures, a number similar to those identified in the United Kingdom.

In Latin America there have been records in Argentina, Panama and Brazil.

Another unknown is whether it is a "new" disease or if it already existed but had gone unnoticed due to the low number of cases.

López-Gatell has said that it is foreseeable that the number of cases reported in Mexico will increase, because priority is being given to identifying possible infections in the epidemiological surveillance network.

“It is not a pattern of spread and it does not seem to be a disease that has those characteristics,” she has commented.

“We must remain calm,” López-Gatell said last weekend.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-05-18

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