Hepatitis A

Surgery

Virology

Transplantation

Acute hepatitis

Outbreak

Liver transplantation

Pediatrics

Medicine

Hepatitis

Disease

Pathology

Journal of Hepatology

At the beginning of April 2022, 10 cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children <10 years of age were reported across central Scotland. Since then, case numbers have increased rapidly, with 191 probable cases identified across Europe, the United States of America, Israel and Japan. Until now, 17 children required liver transplantation and 1 died. Accordingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control have both issued a warning on a hepatitis of unknown origin in children. This review focuses on the available information concerning this recent outbreak and introduces some of the potential explanations for its development.

The recent outbreak of acute severe hepatitis in children of unknown origin – what is known so far