A GP was in GMB this morning speaking of a "really serious" condition that is currently seeing an uptick among children.
Dr Amir Khan GP told the ITV show that 108 children across the UK have contracted hepatitis, with eight of them needing liver transplants.
Earlier this week, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said additional cases of hepatitis had been identified in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. This came after British officials had said earlier in the month that 74 cases of hepatitis had been found in children since January, reports the Mirror.
Dr Amir Khan GP said: "This is worrying. 108 children across the UK have contracted hepatitis - that is inflammation of the liver.
"We are not quite sure what is causing it, we think it is a group of viruses called adenoviruses which cause colds and flus in children.
"It is definitely not the covid-19 vaccines because none of the children who had hepatitis had been vaccinated, it may be caused by covid-19 itself - we are not quite sure.
"Eight of these children have needed liver transplants, so it is really serious. We need to get to the bottom of what is causing this uptick in hepatitis in children."
British officials said the usual viruses that cause infectious hepatitis were not seen in the cases, and scientists and doctors are considering other possible sources, including Covid-19, other viruses and environmental factors.
Public health officials ruled out any links to Covid-19 vaccines, saying none of the affected children was vaccinated.
The World Health Organisation noted that although there has been an increase in adenovirus in Britain, which is spreading at the same time as Covid-19, the potential role of those viruses in triggering hepatitis is unclear.
Some of the children have tested positive for coronavirus, but the WHO said genetic analysis of the virus was needed to determine if there were any connections between the cases.
