According to the news in the national press, in the statement made by the Ministry of Health of Japan, a case of hepatitis (liver inflammation) of unknown cause was detected in a person younger than 16 years old. It was stated that the symptoms of the case comply with the definition of “hepatitis virus” announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) this month.
PATIENT’S INFORMATION IS KEPT CONFIDENTIAL
It was noted that the patient, whose age, address and gender were not reported, was quarantined.
Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Goto Shigeyuki said that no increase in cases among children was recorded across the country.
Stating that they could not make “specific warnings” for the public because there were no “uniform symptoms”, Goto said that they would examine similar cases around the world.
Public broadcaster NHK announced that the case was the first across Japan.
MYSTERIOUS CASE OF HEPATITIS
WHO, in its written statement on April 16, announced that 74 children in England had detected the hepatitis virus of unknown origin. In the statement made yesterday, it was stated that the cases had spread to 11 countries and increased to at least 169.
It has been reported that symptoms such as jaundice, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain have been observed in the last month in children in whom the virus has been detected, and some cases had severe liver inflammation and were treated with liver transplantation.
It was noted that one of the cases was caused by contact with someone or several people with hepatitis, and it was not known where the other cases got the virus.
The definition of the disease as “mysterious” or “of uncertain cause” brought to mind the possibility of a new “global epidemic” while bringing the Kovid-19 virus to mind.
Before being named, Covid-19 was described as a “mysterious lung condition”. (AA)
