- The first cases of hepatitis arose more than 4 thousand years ago.
- There are currently five recognized types of hepatitis (A, B, C, D, and E) plus this newly emerged class.
- This new type of hepatitis affects children from birth months to 16 years of age.
During the last weeks a topic has been placed as one of the most commented. It is a new disease that has gradually spread throughout the planet. It’s about the childhood hepatitis of unknown origin and there are still more questions than answers. For this reason, research is carried out permanently to identify basic aspects such as its form of transmission and the way in which it arose.
A disease with a long past
In the first instance, hepatitis is one of the oldest diseases in history. Research led by academics from the Center for Pathogenic Evolution in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge and the Center for GeoGenetics at the University of Copenhagen, took genetic samples from ancient Bronze Age remains found in cemeteries in Europe and Asia.
The work identified in 12 of the skeletons analyzed enough hepatitis B virus genome to affirm that The first cases were recorded 4,500 years ago. Despite the passage of time, it is a disease that remains in force in the world.
For its part, currently five types of hepatitis have been identified (A, B, C, D and E) but now a childhood one of unknown origin has emerged. Until now More than 300 cases have been reported in the world and some have resulted in the death of patients.
In that vein, just a few days ago the first cases in Mexico and as long as the way in which it is transmitted is not known, the problem is likely to remain.
What is the origin of the new childhood hepatitis?
Now, various experts on the subject have released some of the hypotheses about the origin of this new childhood hepatitis. One of them is Spanish Gorka Orivewho specializes in health issues and commented on three theories.
- Insufficient exposure to viruses during the pandemic has caused more susceptibility.
- The removal of measures has generated a wave of massive adenovirus infection.
- Exposure to coronavirus or any other toxic agent or drug.
Similarly, the Dr. Francisco Moreno Sanchezwho is a renowned Mexican internist and infectologist, winner of the 2020 National Health Award, added other hypotheses that are handled.
- It has been associated with an adenovirus 41 infection, but there is still a lack of information to confirm this and to know why it has affected the liver in this way.
- A co-infection, that is, a simultaneous infection of the adenovirus with SARS-COV2. What goes against this theory is the absence of acute COVID-19 infection in most cases.
- A type of susceptibility of these children after being infected by COVID-19 that causes the adenovirus infection to generate a severe inflammatory response in the liver such as what occurs in Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PIMS).
- A lack of exposure to this virus due to the isolation caused by COVID-19, which at younger ages would produce a less severe infection. What goes against it is the presence of the disease in children of 6 months.
On the other hand, as both mention, these are only hypotheses and none have been proven. There is still a long way to go to identify with certainty the origin of this new infantile hepatitis.