World faces outbreak of hepatitis "of unknown origin" affecting children

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the world is facing an outbreak of hepatitis "of unknown origin" affecting children.

The health agency's announcement, which coincides with World Hepatitis Day, stresses that the current spike highlights the thousands of acute viral infections of the disease occurring annually among children, adolescents and adults.

The World Health Organisation is working closely with scientists and policy makers in affected countries to try to understand the cause of this infection, which does not appear to match any of the five known types of hepatitis: A, B, C, D and E.

Despite the availability of extensive information and tools needed to diagnose, treat and prevent chronic viral hepatitis globally, these services are often beyond the reach of communities and sometimes only available in central or specialised hospitals.

The agency's head, Dr Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, warned in his message for the anniversary that "for maximum effectiveness, hepatitis surveillance must be delivered at the community level through an effective primary health care system integrated with other health services that address the full range of health needs".

While most acute hepatitis causes mild symptoms and may go undetected, in some cases it can lead to complications and can become fatal.

For example, complications from acute hepatitis A to E infections caused an estimated 78,000 deaths worldwide in 2019. In parallel, global efforts to combat the disease prioritise the elimination of hepatitis B, C and D infections.

Unlike acute viral hepatitis, the latter three strains cause chronic hepatitis that lasts for decades and results in more than one million deaths per year from cirrhosis and liver cancer. In addition, they are responsible for more than 95% of hepatitis deaths.

"Every 30 seconds, one person dies from hepatitis-related causes such as liver failure, cirrhosis and cancer," said Tedros, who pointed out that nearly 80 per cent of people living with the disease have no access to medical care or cannot afford to pay for treatment.

To eliminate hepatitis by 2030, the UN health agency has called on countries to achieve four specific targets.

• Reduce new hepatitis B and C infections by 90%.
• Reduce deaths from cirrhosis and liver cancer by 65%.
• Diagnose at least 90% of hepatitis B and C cases
• Treat at least 80 per cent of those eligible for treatment

"Low testing and treatment coverage is the single most important gap that needs to be addressed to reach global eradication targets by 2030," according to the WHO.

The health agency called on all governments and their partners to "scale up the use of effective tools" against the disease.

Tedros noted that a new WHO report shows how Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, Mongolia, Rwanda, Thailand and the UK are moving towards elimination of hepatitis B and C by applying the UN health agency's guidelines and tools.

"The elimination of viral hepatitis is within reach with political commitment and investment," said the agency's director general.

The day aims to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, which causes inflammation of the liver leading to severe liver disease and liver cancer.

This year, WHO is highlighting the importance of moving hepatitis surveillance to primary health centres and communities to improve access to treatment, regardless of the type of hepatitis.

The date chosen for the celebration, 28 July, coincides with the birthday of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Baruch Blumberg, discoverer of the hepatitis B virus. The researcher also created a test for diagnosing the disease and a vaccine against the virus.