Mysterious hepatitis in children linked to COVID-19?

According to Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, former Head of the Department of Infection – Neurology, Children’s Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, due to the coincident time, many people believe that mysterious hepatitis is related to COVID-19. However, this is the wrong view, because in fact many children have COVID-19 last time. If it is due to COVID-19, there will be many children with acute hepatitis, not scattered as today.

“Some other opinions also suggest that mysterious hepatitis may be caused by the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, this view has not been tested and I have not seen any documentation to support this. In my opinion, acute hepatitis is not related to COVID-19 nor the COVID-19 vaccine. BS Khanh added.

Sharing the same opinion, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Van Dung, Dean of the Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, said that COVID-19 is not related to and is not the cause of the mysterious hepatitis. There is no relation between COVID-19 vaccine and Adeno virus because these are two completely different viruses. In addition, any vaccine before being put into use is studied, tested and handled very closely, saying that acute hepatitis related to the COVID-19 vaccine is baseless.

Parents should do?

According to Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, acute hepatitis initially appeared sporadically in some European countries, the Americas, the US, and Belgium, but was detected most 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 the same. Children with this disease all have fever, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice… Through initial testing, many samples contained adenovirus.

“Many countries have been tested for Adeno virus after testing, leading scientists to think that the cause may be related to this virus.” BS Khanh said.

To proactively prevent the disease, Dr. Khanh recommends that people should pay attention to personal hygiene regularly such as washing hands, disinfecting, wearing masks, eating hygienically… If a child has acute hepatitis, the family should Take your child to the hospital and take care as recommended by the doctor, don’t worry too much. During the monitoring process, if the child has yellow skin, dark urine, etc., immediately notify the health agency for early screening test.

“In fact, acute hepatitis or other liver diseases all have the same treatment direction, which is to keep the liver in a healthy condition, without further damage. Families need to calmly listen to the doctor’s recommendations. In particular, parents should not let their children take drugs indiscriminately. If the baby is suffering from hepatitis, if he takes drugs indiscriminately, his liver will be damaged quickly, the disease will be aggravated, making it difficult to treat.” BS Khanh said.

This expert also recommends that people should pay attention to monitor their children’s health status, if they see any signs of hepatitis such as dark urine, jaundice, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue. very tired…, need to take the child to the hospital soon. Hepatitis is detected early, treated promptly, with the right method, it will recover very well, without causing long-term complications.

“If caused by the adenovirus, early treatment will soon recover without causing long-term complications such as chronic hepatitis. In addition, the characteristic of Adeno is that it spreads very quickly, but mainly causes severe disease in children with weak resistance, immunodeficiency and weak body. Parents should not be too confused and worried. Right now, just stay calm and pay attention health children and try to give them adequate and healthy meals and sleep to improve their resistance and fight against diseases”. BS Khanh said.

Sharing the same opinion, Dr. Nguyen Trung Trung stated, to be proactive in preventing and treating hepatitis in children, parents need to closely monitor their children’s health. When children appear warning signs, parents need to take their children to the hospital soon for examination and tests to evaluate liver function. Based on the test results, the doctor will diagnose whether the child has liver damage and how the treatment will be.

“The Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases is still closely monitoring hospitalized children with fever, vomiting, diarrhea, etc., to be proactive in examining and identifying pathologies. As soon as the world has identified the virus strain causing the disease, the hospital’s testing system will quickly coordinate to monitor the situation in Vietnam.” BS Level emphasized.

According to statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), as of May 7, the world had about 278 children with mysterious acute hepatitis in 20 countries, of which 9 died.

In Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Health, as of May 8, our country has not recorded any cases of children with mysterious hepatitis. However, in order to proactively prevent the disease, the Ministry has strengthened the direction, inspection and supervision, and requested the units to closely monitor, summarize the situation, and analyze the epidemiology of hepatitis of unknown cause.

Medical units must coordinate with localities to analyze suspected cases of acute hepatitis of unknown cause and immediately report unusual cases, at the same time assess risks and propose preventive measures. in Viet Nam.

Earlier on May 6, the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) also sent an urgent dispatch to the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and the Pasteur Institute requesting enhanced surveillance of acute hepatitis of unknown cause.