According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, there are currently no Canadian cases of the severe liver disease that has been reported to be affecting children in Europe and the United States.
In an email, the agency confirmed to CTVNews.ca that they have not seen any cases of the acute hepatitis — a type of liver inflammation — that was first reported in Scotland at the beginning of April.
The World Health Organization (WHO) first raised the issue last Friday, stating that on April 5, they received notification of ten cases of severe acute hepatitis in children under the age of ten in Scotland. All of the children had previously been healthy, and the youngest case was in a child who was only 11 months old.
Children complained of symptoms such as jaundice, vomiting, and abdominal pain.
According to WHO, there are currently at least 74 cases in the United Kingdom, with three similar cases in Spain and a few more in Ireland under investigation, all involving children, the majority of whom are under the age of ten.
Health officials in the United States said Friday that they were investigating nine similar cases in Alabama.
Acute hepatitis is a broad term for liver inflammation that lasts less than six months before progressing to chronic hepatitis.
The term “unknown aetiology” refers to the fact that doctors are unsure what is causing this type of acute hepatitis, which can be caused by viral infections, biliary tract injury, shock, or drugs or alcohol.
The WHO stated that laboratory testing ruled out hepatitis A, B, C, and E viruses.
