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Mysterious liver disease: All you need to know about it

April 27, 2022
Bharat Times

A mysterious liver disease affecting only children was brought to the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month (Image: Shutterstock)

So far, there are over 169 cases being investigated in the United Kingdom (UK), while the United States has reported 9 similar cases of this mysterious liver disease.

A mysterious liver disease Earlier this month, only a case of attack on children came to the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO). So far, there are over 169 cases being investigated in the United Kingdom (UK), while the United States has reported 9 similar cases of this mysterious liver disease. There have been 13 in Spain, 12 in Israel and a few cases in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, France, Romania and Belgium.

This has become a major cause for concern as the disease is not being explained for known reasons. It was previously believed that the outbreak could only occur in Europe and the Americas, but on 25 April Japan reported that it had found a possible case of the same disease, raising fears of widespread disease.

Everything you wanted to know about this mysterious disease

  • Children in the age group of 1 to 6 years are falling prey to this liver disease.
  • The symptoms of this disease are called common liver diseases such as hepatitis or inflammation of the liver. Other symptoms of hepatitis include fatigue, loss of appetite, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain, jaundice (when the skin or the whites of the eyes turn yellow), diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
  • Since the underlying cause of the illness is unknown, it is thought that it may be related to some type of virus commonly associated with colds.
  • Although there have been no casualties in the US and UK so far, the disease has been described as serious. Six children also needed liver transplants.
  • Such disease is usually caused by hepatitis types A, B, C and E but laboratory testing has ruled out the possibility. The role, if any, of international travel is not yet known.
  • Some European children with liver disease also tested positive for adenovirus, while some tested positive for COVID-19.
  • The UK has reported an increase in severe hepatitis cases in children since January. Alabama has emerged as a hotspot for the disease in the US.

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