Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed that there were no suspicious cases under investigation, but described them as “likely” to eventually occur. “We are in contact with BC Children’s Hospital and the specialist doctor who would handle issues like this, so we are on the lookout for this and will continue to do so,” Henry told reporters on Thursday. There are already reports of children suffering from “severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin” in other parts of Canada, according to federal officials. None has been confirmed yet. “These are being further investigated to determine if they are related to cases in the United Kingdom and the United States,” Health Canada told CTV News in an email. “As the investigation progresses, we will inform the public accordingly.” According to the World Health Organization, as of last Friday, there were 169 reports of children suffering from the mysterious disease from 12 different counties. About 10 percent of cases required a liver transplant and so far at least one death has been reported. Henry said cases had occurred in about half a dozen other countries since then, describing the situation as “very worrying”. The majority of cases detected were in the United Kingdom, for reasons that are not yet clear. To date, none of the cases of acute hepatitis – that is, inflammation of the liver – have been linked to any of the common viruses known to cause the condition, including hepatitis A, B, C, D or E. Henry said there are many cases being investigated, including a possible adenovirus link, which has been detected in at least 74 of the cases. However, adenovirus 41, the “culprit type of adenovirus”, is not known to cause hepatitis in otherwise healthy children, according to the WHO. One thing the provincial health officer said is “very clear” is that the disease is not related to COVID-19 vaccination. “The majority of children, 80 percent of them, are under the age of six and are not yet eligible and have not been vaccinated,” Henry said. Many of the cases started with symptoms of gastrointestinal disease, such as stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting before the children began to show signs of jaundice, a sign of poor liver function, Henry said. “This is something we need to be careful about, so that parents know about it,” he added.
