The purpose of the study was to analyze cases of acute hepatitis of undetermined etiology and define the main problems and tasks of epidemiological surveillance in Ukraine for emergent disease of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology. Materials and methods. The method of retrospective epidemiological analysis of data from open sourses on cases of acute hepatitis of undetermined etiology and the bibliosemantic method were used. Results and discussion. It was found that from April 5 to May 27, 2022, 650 cases of acute hepatitis of undetermined etiology in children were registered in 33 countries in 5 World Health Organization regions. The majority of reported cases, 58%, are in the World Health Organization European Region (22 countries). According to data as of May 31, 2022, we realized that the highest incidence of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology among children under 16 years old was observed in countries such as Great Britain – 50.8%, Spain – 11%, Italy – 9.5%, Portugal – 4.9%, the Netherlands and Belgium – 4.6% each, Austria and Cyprus – 0.7% each, Denmark – 2.3%, Greece and Norway – 1.6% each, and Ireland – 2.6%. Out of 305 patients with acute hepatitis of unknown etiology, 237 people were hospitalized, which is 77.7% of cases. Most of them were hospitalized in the UK – 65% of patients, Italy – 11% of cases, Spain – 8.0% of patients. In total, 7.5% of patients were in intensive care units, the largest number was in the UK – 60.9% of cases, Ireland and Spain – 13% of patients. In the age and sex structure of the diseased, children aged 5 years and younger (76%) and female persons prevailed. The etiology is unknown, but there is an association of cases with adenovirus type 41. Samples of whole blood, serum, urine, feces, airway washes, and, if possible, liver biopsies were examined in sick children under 16 years old. A total of 199 cases of acute hepatitis of unknown etiology were tested for adenovirus, of which 59.3% were positive. PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 was performed in 204 patients, and 11.8% of patients had positive results. Serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 samples of 34 patients were positive, 67.6% of samples. Vaccination against COVID-19 was reported in 72 patients with acute hepatitis of unknown etiology, of which 61 patients (85%) were not vaccinated. Conclusion. It is indicated that it is necessary to identify possible cases of acute hepatitis of undetermined etiology, implement epidemiological investigation of each case, inform medical workers and exchange information with specialists, practice educational work among the population
Keywords: acute hepatitis of unknown etiology, public health, emergent diseases, adenovirus infection
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