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Amid a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in India, experts have issued a fresh warning over the rising number of cases of unexplained and mysterious liver disease among the coronavirus infected kids.
A team of researchers from the Bundelkhand Medical College (BMC), Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, and the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research, Chandigarh report has revealed that an investigation of 475 children, who tested Covid positive from April-July in 2021, showed 37 (about 8%) with Covid Acquired Hepatitis (CAH). Though sporadic reports from various parts of India have emerged in the last two years, this is the first systematic investigation to quantify the scale of the syndrome in the country.
According to their report, around 10 children were diagnosed with serious and rare - Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). This condition is mainly marked by inflammation in multiple organs and is often regarded as a fatal condition that can kill three in every ten diagnosed children.
Speaking to the media, the experts said that they have observed a peculiar rise in hepatitis cases. They said that it is usually, the beginning of monsoon that marks a rise in hepatitis cases. However, since last year (2021) they have started to see this in April, or summer, in covid positive children who were part of follow-up. The experts also added that most of them in fact had recovered from their covid.
This comes days after mysterious cases of children suffering from hepatitis were reported in the UK. The health authorities had confirmed a spike in cases of this mysterious disease among the kids. The WHO in its statement said that 348 probable cases of "hepatitis of unknown origin" had been identified, and the prime suspect was an adenovirus along with a COVID-19 infection.
Apart from the UK, some 20 countries had reported cases though only six countries had reported more than five. Britain tops the list of countries with nearly 160 confirmed cases.
(With inputs from agencies)