The health authorities of Panama confirmed this Thursday first case of acute childhood hepatitis in a child under two years old, who is “out of danger” after being admitted to a pediatric hospital.
“In this case, epidemiological surveillance has been intensified and the surveillance alert has already been sent to all health facilities, both from the Social Security Fund, as well as from the Ministry of Health (Minsa) and private hospital centers,” said the national head of Epidemiology of the health portfolio, Lourdes Moreno.
Doctors give recommendations for cases of acute childhood hepatitis that have been reported in 20 countries
The Gorgas Memorial Institute, a public institution dedicated to medical research, confirmed this first case of the hepatitis F40-41 in Panama, after studying it.
This is a two-year-old boy residing in the province of Panama East, adjacent to Panama City, according to the Minsa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert on this type of hepatitis on April 5, after it was detected in the United Kingdom in children under ten years of age without previous ailments.
There are 228 cases detected in twenty countries and at least four deaths, all minors, due to this acute pediatric hepatitis of unknown origin.
The age of the patients varies between one-month-old infants and 16-year-old adolescents, who Most of them do not have fever or viruses associated with the different types of hepatitis known. (A, B, C, D and E), according to the WHO.
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The WHO indicated in its report of April 23 that a tenth of the children affected until then had needed a liver transplant after contracting this new disease, which usually leads to abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting.
The health organization recommended that member states identify, investigate and report any potential cases with the intention of collecting information and being able to trace the source of the disease.
The WHO theorized that the disease may be caused by an adenovirus, of the F41 type, detected in dozens of these cases, a virus that is normally associated with the common cold and stomach viruses. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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