An 8-year-old boy was the first patient with a severe case of acute hepatitis to be detected in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina, in Rosario. The country’s health authorities released the news in a statement late Wednesday.

From the Argentine State Ministry of Health, it was reported that “this is an isolated case that is being followed by a team” of medical specialists. As explained clarinThe patient was transferred to a private health center.

The officials consulted by the media pointed out that this situation “no need to worry”but what should be communicated “by order of World Health Organization (WHO)”.

“It doesn’t mean much more than that. There are cases like this.” added the official whose name has not been released.

According to the EFE agency, WHO reported last Tuesday that about 228 cases of childhood acute hepatitis of unknown origin had been reported in less than a month and another 50 were under investigation.

Over the past week, the Argentine Pediatric Society (SAP) has issued a statement in which it urges doctors across the country to stay alert for possible cases.

This is “severe acute hepatitis with marked elevations of liver enzymes and jaundice, accompanied in most cases with previous gastrointestinal symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting,” SAP said and indicated that in the majority of cases they had no fever. .

The first case occurred in England

This type of hepatitis was first discovered on April 5 by the UK in children under the age of ten and without previous illness, since then similar cases have been found in Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the United States and Indonesia. , among others.

Based on WHOpatients’ ages varied between one-month-old infants and 16-year-olds, most of whom had no fever or the viruses associated with the various known hepatitis types (A, B, C, D and E).

So far, four minors have died of this unknown strain, which causes abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting, and a tenth of those affected require a liver transplant.