Unexplained cases of hepatitis in children - researchers would be "surprised" if Corona had nothing to do with it
Created: 2022-05-21Updated: 2022-05-21, 4:30 p.m
By: Yasina Hipp
The WHO recently reported cases of children with hepatitis from 20 different countries.
© IMAGO/moodboard/YAY images
In recent weeks, numerous cases of the mysterious hepatitis in children have surfaced worldwide.
A Swedish scientist now puts forward a hypothesis.
SOLNA/Munich - Several hundred children in the UK, Europe, the USA, Israel and Japan have suffered mysterious illnesses from hepatitis in the past few weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has already reported 348 affected children in 20 different countries (as of May 11).
However, the origin of the disease is still unclear.
Not only WHO experts have already put forward a connection with an infection with the corona virus, but the Swedish immunologist Petter Brodin also sees Corona as a possible cause.
Hepatitis diseases: Corona superantigen may be involved
In an interview with
Spiegel
, Brodin says: "I would be surprised if Sars-CoV-2 had nothing to do with the current hepatitis cases".
Because although an infection with the corona virus was only detected in eleven percent of the cases for which data are available, Brodin is certain that residual corona viruses in the intestine play a role.
In the journal
The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology
the Swedish researcher is now publishing his hypothesis.
A corona infection could therefore lead to the formation of a “viral reservoir” in the children’s gastrointestinal tract.
This reservoir, in turn, can repeatedly release viral proteins that trigger an immune response when they get from the gut into the blood.
Such a repeated reaction could ultimately be the trigger for excessive, pathological reactions of the so-called T cells, i.e. for the inflammation.
Title: Severe acute hepatitis in children: investigate SARS-CoV-2 superantigens
Published: 05/13/2022 in
The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Authors: Petter Brodin, Moshre Arditi
Hepatitis in children: Adenoviruses have often been detected
The sick children were much more likely to be infected with adenoviruses than an infection with the coronavirus.
Adenoviruses are common viruses that usually only cause mild illness.
There are more than 50 types that are transmitted by droplet infection.
Brodin may see adenoviruses as a kind of booster of the immune reaction triggered by the corona superantigen.
Brodin now urges all his colleagues to investigate his hypothesis so that the cause of the children's mysterious illness can be found as quickly as possible.
He expects the first results in a month if they work "really hard" on it.
Petter Brodin clearly rules out a connection between the vaccinations against the virus.