Mysterious Hepatitis in Children: What Do Vietnamese Experts Say?

According to Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, former Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Neurology, Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, this is an acute hepatitis disease that initially appeared sporadically in several European countries, America, the US, Belgium, but is currently most commonly found in the UK.

Experts around the world are leaning towards the idea that the virus is the cause of the disease, because most of the symptoms in patients are similar. Children with this disease all show symptoms of fever, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice... Through initial testing, many samples contain the Adeno virus.

“Many countries have tested positive for the Adeno virus, leading scientists to believe that the cause may be related to this virus. Adeno can also cause conjunctivitis, colds, coughs, and even severe pneumonia... In particular, some children with weak or immunocompromised immune systems are susceptible to the virus attacking the liver, causing acute hepatitis as we know it,” said Dr. Khanh.

Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, former Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Neurology, Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City

If the mysterious hepatitis is caused by Adeno, there is no way to “stop” this virus. Adeno is transmitted through the respiratory tract, raging regularly every year like influenza and RSV... so it spreads very quickly. In the case of other viruses transmitted through the digestive tract, the spread rate will be slower.

“When the Adeno virus is in a person's throat, it will spread to others very quickly, even faster than the Delta strain of COVID-19, because this is a characteristic of viruses transmitted through the respiratory tract. However, only a very small number of people infected with Adeno will develop serious illness,” Dr. Khanh said.

According to MSc. Dr. Nguyen Trung Cap, Deputy Director of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) and experts are still researching the mysterious hepatitis disease. Some initial hypotheses suggest that the disease is related to the Adeno virus. There is also the view that the disease is caused by other viruses, but this is only an initial opinion, and the cause has not yet been determined.

According to initial records, children with the disease all have symptoms of fever, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, yellow eyes, dark urine, loss of appetite, fatigue... Some severe cases may be comatose, have increased liver enzymes, liver damage that progresses rapidly to liver failure...

“WHO and experts are still working hard to determine the cause of this mysterious cluster of hepatitis cases,” said Dr. Cap.

Small clusters of adenovirus particles under electron microscope

Not related to COVID-19

According to Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, because the mysterious hepatitis cases appeared at the same time as COVID-19, there was suspicion that the disease was related to this pandemic. This is not true because in reality, many children have contracted COVID-19 recently.

“If it was really due to COVID-19, there would be a lot of children with acute hepatitis, not just sporadic cases like now,” said Dr. Khanh.

“Some other opinions also suggest that the “mysterious” hepatitis may be due to the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, these views have not been verified and I have not seen any documents proving this. In my opinion, acute hepatitis is not related to COVID-19 or the COVID-19 vaccine,” Dr. Khanh added.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Van Dung, Head of the Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, also stated that COVID-19 is not related to and is not the cause of the mysterious hepatitis. There is no connection between the COVID-19 vaccine and the Adeno virus because these are two completely different strains of virus. In addition, any vaccine before being put into use is researched, tested and handled very closely, saying that acute hepatitis is related to the COVID-19 vaccine is unfounded.

So far, Vietnam has not recorded any cases of "mysterious" hepatitis in children.

Don't worry too much.

According to Dr. Khanh, in case of acute hepatitis caused by Adeno virus, to proactively prevent the disease, people need to pay attention to personal hygiene regularly such as washing hands, disinfecting, wearing masks, eating and drinking hygienically...

If acute hepatitis is detected in children, the family should take the child to the hospital and take care of the child according to the doctor's recommendations, and should not be too worried. During the monitoring process, if the child has jaundice, dark urine..., immediately notify the medical facility for early screening tests.

“In fact, acute hepatitis or other liver diseases have the same treatment direction: keeping the liver healthy and not causing further damage. Families need to calmly listen to the doctor's recommendations. In particular, parents should not give their children medicine indiscriminately. If a child with hepatitis takes medicine indiscriminately, the liver will be damaged quickly, the disease will get worse, making treatment difficult,” said Dr. Khanh.

This expert also recommends that people should pay attention to their children's health status. If they see any signs of hepatitis such as dark urine, jaundice, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, etc., they should take their children to the hospital soon. Hepatitis detected early, treated promptly and properly will result in a very good recovery without causing long-term complications.

“If it is caused by the Adeno virus, early treatment will result in a quick recovery without causing long-term complications such as chronic hepatitis. In addition, the characteristic of Adeno is that it spreads very quickly but mainly causes serious illness in children with weak resistance, immunodeficiency and weak constitution. Parents should not be too panicked or worried. At this time, just stay calm, pay attention to your child's health and try to give your child enough food and rest to improve their resistance and fight against diseases,” said Dr. Khanh.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Nguyen Trung Cap stated that to be proactive in preventing and treating hepatitis in children, parents need to closely monitor their children's health. When children show warning signs, parents need to take their children to the hospital early for examination and liver function tests. Based on the test results, the doctor will diagnose whether the child has liver damage or not and what the treatment direction will be.

“The Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases is still closely monitoring children admitted with fever, vomiting, diarrhea, etc., to proactively examine and determine the disease. As soon as the world identifies the virus strain causing the disease, the hospital's testing system will quickly coordinate to monitor the situation in Vietnam,” Dr. Cap emphasized.

On May 6, the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) sent a document to the Institutes of Hygiene and Epidemiology and the Pasteur Institute requesting to strengthen surveillance of acute hepatitis of unknown cause, closely monitor, synthesize the situation, and analyze the epidemiology of this disease in the world.

A leader of the Ministry of Health said that as of May 4, according to reports from the Department of Preventive Medicine and provincial Health Departments, Vietnam has not recorded any cases of children with hepatitis of unknown cause. The Ministry is still closely monitoring the disease situation and its cause.

"In the coming time, the Ministry is expected to issue instructions to localities about this disease to proactively prevent and control the epidemic," he said.

A mysterious hepatitis has claimed the lives of four children out of 228 cases detected worldwide as of May 3. Children with the disease of unknown cause live in 20 countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific.

According to VTC News