The results of two studies from Great Britain confirm that a Covid-19 infection is not responsible for the appearance of these cases of hepatitis. Scientists have also found an explanation deemed plausible.
A little 1000 cases of childhood hepatitis of unknown origin have been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO). Of those cases, the organization said there were 22 deaths. On Monday July 25, two scientific studies shed new light on these mysterious cases of serious inflammation of the liver, which affected very young children under the age of 6 but remained unexplained so far.
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Hepatitis of unknown origin: cases detected in France in children under 10
The two studies, which have not yet been peer reviewed as reported West France via AFP, concluded that the Covid-19 was not responsible. The coronavirus was not detected in the livers of the sick children studied, and the proportion of them showing antibodies against Covid-19 was similar to that of children not affected by these hepatitis.
“It seems that co-infection plays a key role”
These studies carried out in Scotland and England found another culprit: a common virus called AAV2 (adeno-associated virus 2), detected at high levels in sick children according to our colleagues. This virus does not cause disease and cannot replicate itself: it needs another virus, an adenovirus, or more rarely the herpes virus (HHV6). Researchers believe that co-infection (AAV2 and an adenovirus, or HHV6) is the best explanation for these cases of hepatitis.
“I think this is a plausible explanation for these cases,” commented Deirdre Kelly, professor of pediatric hepatology at the University of Birmingham, and not involved in these studies. “It seems that co-infection plays a key role.” It is still only a hypothesis and there are still many questions on the subject. Scientists do not yet clearly understand why these cases are appearing precisely now.
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