4 Additional Domestic Cases Suspected of 'Idiopathic Pediatric Acute Hepatitis'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Four additional suspected cases of unexplained pediatric acute hepatitis occurring worldwide have been reported in South Korea.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on the 5th that this was confirmed following expert review of suspected cases reported between August 3 and September 1. Since the 5th, the KDCA has been operating a surveillance system for unexplained pediatric acute hepatitis in collaboration with the medical community and related academic societies.

According to the KDCA, among the cases reported during this period, nine cases meeting the case definition were thoroughly reviewed, and four were classified as suspected unexplained cases. Among the four suspected cases, adenovirus infection was confirmed in one case. Most of the suspected cases showed favorable clinical progress, with no cases requiring liver transplantation or resulting in death.

The remaining five cases were confirmed to have acute hepatitis caused by presumed agents such as enterovirus, COVID-19 and adenovirus, E.coli, norovirus, and Salmonella bacteria. Among these, one case suspected to be caused by COVID-19 and adenovirus was treated in the intensive care unit for liver failure and has since recovered.

As of now, after four rounds of expert review, 30 cases meeting the case definition have been reported, of which 17 have been classified as suspected unexplained pediatric acute hepatitis cases. Among these, adenovirus was confirmed in six cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.