Thread by @FLAHAULT

1/9 - “Unexplained severe acute hepatitis cases among children continue to emerge in Canada and around the world, and while health officials desperately search for a cause of the mysterious illness, researchers are pointing to a possible link to #COVID19.”
cbc.ca/news/health/se…

2/9 - “The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday there are now at least 348 probable cases of severe acute hepatitis —  or inflammation of the liver — in children under investigation worldwide, which aren't caused by the usual hepatitis viruses or any other clear source.”

3/9 - “While an early line of investigation from U.K. health officials emphasized possible links to adenovirus, a family of viruses typically known for causing flu-like illness, global teams are also zeroing in on potential impacts from #SARSCoV2, the virus behind #COVID19 .”

4/9 - “An Indian research team analyzed 475 children from throughout India who had tested positive for #COVID19 — 47 of whom presented with severe hepatitis. 10 had MIS-C and were ruled out, while the 37 classified as #COVID19 Associated Hepatitis.”
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

5/9 - “The Indian researchers looked for other common causes behind the 37 cases of severe acute hepatitis — everything from hepatitis A, C, E and others like varicella-zoster virus, herpes and cytomegalovirus (CMV) — but found nothing that could explain the symptoms.”

6/9 - “To prove that the #COVID19 itself is causing this hepatitis it will require a lot more effort. One significant hint was that hepatitis cases seemed to drop off when #COVID19 stopped circulating widely in the region, but picked up again when cases were high.”

7/9 - “For one thing, there's "no evidence" of a link between #COVID19 vaccination and these cases of acute hepatitis, the UKHSA has said, noting there were no vaccinations recorded in patients under five — the age group making up more than three-quarters of the cases.”

8/9 - “Some media outlets also latched on to survey data showing a high rate of exposure to dogs, but UKHSA epidemiologist Kall said that the hypothesis is far fetched given how common dog ownership is in the UK, and was included in the latest briefing note for transparency.”

9/9 - "Why is it that these certain kids are getting sick and the vast majority are not? Is it something about the kids? Is it something about the virus? Is it something in the environment, that these kids are doing, that may have changed the course of their infection?"