Cyprus’ health professionals are ready to deal with a case of an acute hepatitis on the island, Head of Cyprus Paediatric Society Dr Michalis Anastasiades told the Cyprus News Agency.
He was invited to comment on the number of acute hepatitis cases of an unknown aetiology which appeared in infants and toddlers mostly in the UK the last days and whether Cyprus is ready to deal with cases. Dr. Anastasiades said that so far no such incident was detected or reported in Cyprus, adding that most of these cases will develop mildly. He reassured the public saying that these incidents do not cause any serious, permanent damage to the liver.
Dr. Anastasiades said that is most likely that the conditions of pandemic foster the outbreak of viral infections. He explained that because of the pandemic and the restrictions in place many of these infections did not appear and now due to the lift of restrictions they come back in an endemic form.
Asked if such cases are likely to be diagnosed in Cyprus, Dr. Anastasiades said that no one can be certain about it. He added however that he does not personally think that any cases will have an epidemic outbreak similar to Covid.
Dr. Anastasiades also said that last summer and beginning of Autumn we were faced with infections which mostly appear during winter and the same will most probably happen with viruses such as adenovirus which has high transmissibility. He said that symptoms include gastroenteritis and respiratory problems.
He said that so far 169 cases were detected around the world, 112 of which in the UK.
Dr Anastasiades said that the authorities globally are studying whether there is a certain mutation of a particular strain. He added that the situation is under assessment by World Health Organization and EU authorities. He also said that there is no correlation with COVID 19 vaccinations.
Source: Cyprus News Agency