LONDON
A child in Ireland died on Thursday after becoming infected with the deadly hepatitis virus amid a significant rise in infant hepatitis cases.
The Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed that six children had been infected with the disease, the cause of which is unknown.
The six children, aged 1-12, were all hospitalized while another required a liver transplant.
“Over the past 10 weeks, six probable cases of children with hepatitis of unknown cause have been identified in Ireland and a small number of children are under investigation,” a spokesperson from the HSE said in a statement given to the Irish Times.
“This is more than would usually be expected over this period of time. The children affected have no links to the other children involved. To date no single virus has been identified in the cases,” the statement added.
Irish health officials are investigating, if any, links between cases found in Ireland to those in the UK, where infant infections were first recorded, and working to identify the causes of the illness.
According to the HSE, information from the UK suggests cases might be linked to the adenovirus infection which is a common cause of childhood illness. However, common viruses that lead to Hepatitis infections and their different variants have not been detected in any of the Irish cases.
“The Irish cases have no links to the UK cases, and none had a recent travel history to the UK before the onset of symptoms,” HSE said.
Officials are also investigating environmental causes, as well as any links between recent infections and COVID-19 and if the latter has any influence on the increasing infection in children.
“In Ireland, as in other countries, investigations are underway to determine if current or prior COVID-19 infection may increase the risk of this disease in some children. None of the Irish cases who were tested on admission to the hospital had evidence of COVID-19 infection at that time,” HSE added.
In recent weeks, there has been a significant rise in infant hepatitis cases. The spike was first identified in the UK with 450 suspected cases being reported worldwide. Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, and the US have all reported similar unexplained cases among children.
