About the recent cases of acute severe hepatitis of unknown origin affecting children around the world and what we can do to minimize the risk

This podcast is about the recent cases of acute severe hepatitis of unknown origin (idiopathic hepatitis) affecting children around the world. As of May 4th, 2022, there are at least 200 cases worldwide, mostly in the UK but some in other parts of Europe and in the US. I talk about what normally causes hepatitis - that is, hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E viruses and what are potential causes of the acute severe hepatitis we are seeing now in healthy children with no significant chronic conditions or co-morbidities. Most of the children also tested positive for adenovirus so it is thought that this virus may be playing some role. The COVID19 vaccine is not thought to be linked to these cases as most of the children affected were unvaccinated and/or too young to have gotten the vaccination.