Canada is reporting a higher number of children diagnosed with unexplained severe hepatitis, but experts remain cautious about whether this indicates a major increase in cases.
As of July 13, there were 24 cases of acute severe hepatitis in children not caused by known hepatitis viruses, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
This is up from 10 cases reported in May. Read more: Canada detects severe hepatitis of ‘unknown origin’ cases in kids.
What is it? The children, who are between the ages of less than one year and 13 years old, became sick between Nov. 3, 2021 and June 29, 2022.