Dogs may be cause of child hepatitis cases

Sudden-onset cases reach 163 as experts say that vast majority of patients had been in contact with a pet

Health officials are investigating whether dogs are behind a rise in cases of hepatitis in children. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said yesterday the number of sudden-onset hepatitis cases has jumped by 18 since last week to 163. A UKHSA report said “relatively high numbers” of affected children – 70 per cent of 93 survey respondents – either come from families with dogs or had some other “exposure” to the pets before falling ill.

HEALTH officials are investigating if dogs are behind a rise in cases of hepatitis in children.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said yesterday the number of sudden-onset hepatitis cases has jumped by 18 since last week to 163, including 11 children who have had liver transplants after their organs were badly damaged.

Usually, unexplained hepatitis – or liver inflammation – is rare in children, and the worldwide rise in cases has prompted alarm.

Health officials’ main theory is that the rise has been caused by adenovirus, a usually mild viral infection that causes the common cold.

But a UKHSA report said that “relatively high numbers” of affected children – some 70 per cent of 93 survey respondents – either come from families with dogs or had some other “exposure” to the pets before falling ill.

Officials wrote: “The significance of this finding is being explored.”

However, they noted having a dog is common in the UK and data are limited on “background rates of pet ownership in families of young children”, making it hard to assess the data’s importance.

The Daily Telegraph understands health officials are not convinced the link is strong, but felt it was too soon to discard any potential hypothesis given the results of the survey.

Prof Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Genetics Institute, said he could not think of “any sensible explanation” for a link between exposure to dogs and hepatitis in children. He said: “Dogs carry their own adenoviruses, including Cav-1, a dog liver pathogen, but there’s no prior evidence at all for Cav-1 being able to infect humans.”

The report comes after the World Health Organisation said about 300 cases had now been reported in at least 20 countries across the globe.

While most are in Europe, small numbers have been identified in the Americas, western Pacific and southeast Asia – including three deaths this week in Indonesia, bringing total fatalities to four. The leading theory is that cases are linked to an adenovirus, but the UKHSA said it is likely that other factors may be amplifying the infection.

One theory is Covid-19 lockdowns may have weakened children’s immunity because they were less exposed to common pathogens while in isolation, or that the virus is acting in tandem with another infection.

This could include Sars-cov-2. So far, 14 per cent of children affected across Britain have recently tested positive for Covid, and scientists have not ruled out that the hepatitis cases may be a consequence of an infection.

Another possibility is that an “exceptionally large wave of normal adenovirus infections” has meant rare complications are appearing more often, or that this is a new variant.

Dr Meera Chand, director of clinical and emerging infections at UKHSA, yesterday urged parents to look out for symptoms, the most common of which was jaundice, seen in more than 70 per cent of cases.

Vomiting and pale stools were also prevalent.

She said it is “important parents know the likelihood of their child developing hepatitis is extremely low” but asked that parents remain alert “to the signs of hepatitis – particularly jaundice, look for a yellow tinge in the whites of the eyes”.

‘Dogs carry their own adenoviruses, but there’s no prior evidence for them being able to infect humans’