Health officials in the European Union, the US and the UK are looking into an outbreak of unexplained cases of hepatitis in young children. Some of them have been severe, requiring liver transplants, Trend reports citing Deutsche Welle.
It's very rare to come across serious cases of hepatitis in children, said William Irving, a professor of virology at the University of Nottingham. He said in normal years, hepatitis cases in children in the UK have likely been in the single digits. Last week, 60 cases were reported across the country.
All of the reported patients are under the age of 10, and many are under the age of 5. The children aren't testing positive for the typical hepatitis viruses — A, B, C, D or E.
The outbreak was first reported by UK health officials at the start of April. On April 19, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control announced additional cases in Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland. It also flagged cases in the US state of Alabama.