The mysterious hepatitis virus continues to spread across the globe amid an unexplained and significant spike in infant cases, with a child in Ireland becoming the latest to die after being infected with the deadly virus.
The Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed that six children had been infected with the disease, the cause of which is unknown.
The six children, all between the ages of 1 and 12, were hospitalized, while another required a liver transplant.
"Over the past 10 weeks, six probable cases of children with hepatitis of unknown cause have been identified in Ireland and a small number of children are under investigation," a spokesperson from the HSE said in a statement given to the Irish Times.
"This is more than would usually be expected over this period of time. The children affected have no links to the other children involved. To date no single virus has been identified in the cases," the statement added.
Irish health officials are investigating if any links between cases found in Ireland to those in the U.K., where infant infections were first recorded, and are working to identify the causes of the illness.
According to the HSE, information from the U.K. suggests cases might be linked to the adenovirus infection, which is a common cause of childhood illness. However, common viruses that lead to hepatitis infections and their different variants have not been detected in any of the Irish cases.
"The Irish cases have no links to the U.K. cases, and none had a recent travel history to the U.K. before the onset of symptoms," the HSE said.
Officials are also investigating environmental causes, as well as any links between recent infections and COVID-19 and if the latter has any influence on the increasing infection in children.
"In Ireland, as in other countries, investigations are underway to determine if current or prior COVID-19 infection may increase the risk of this disease in some children. None of the Irish cases who were tested on admission to the hospital had evidence of COVID-19 infection at that time," HSE added.
In recent weeks, there has been a significant rise in infant hepatitis cases. The spike was first identified in the U.K. with 450 suspected cases being reported worldwide. Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.S. have all reported similar unexplained cases among children.
