Children dying of mystery liver disease

JAKARTA: Three children in Indonesia have died from a mysterious liver disease, the country’s health ministry said, raising to at least four the global death toll of an ailment that is puzzling doctors from the UK and the US to Asia.

This strain of acute hepatitis has been identified in nearly 230 children in 20 countries, the World Health Organization said yesterday. The pathogen called adenovirus 41 is known to cause gastroenteritis, but “it is not usually known as a cause of hepatitis in otherwise healthy children”.

Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting and pain before their livers showed signs of inflammation.