Good Morning Britain's Dr Hilary Jones has explained the key symptoms of hepatitis to look out for in children, which include itchy skin and vomiting. Speaking on the show today (April 26), the medical expert addressed a sharp rise in cases of the condition nationwide.
Dr Hilary told Susanna Reid and Ed Balls there are symptoms parents should look out for, adding doctors are "not sure" what is causing the spike in cases. Since the start of the year, 111 children have required hospital care for liver inflammation (hepatitis), with the majority of cases occurring among children under the age of five.
He said: "What happens is that the liver becomes inflammed, there's jaundice, there's itching skin, the whites of the eyes become yellow...these are the things that people should look out for. It usually starts with diarrhea and vomiting, and gastroenteritis which then turns into jaundice, dark urine, pale stools, itching skin and a fever."
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Susanna asked: "What causes it?" Dr Hilary replied: "We're looking into this. We're not sure. It's usually caused by a variety of viruses in children."
He added: "In the first three months of this year, we have seen more cases than we usually do for a full year. The liver has 500 functions in the body - it is as important as your heart - and it is happening in three-year-olds. The majority of cases are happening in kids under 10."
It comes as UKHSA's chief medical advisor, Professor Susan Hopkins, said that officials were still looking at a range of possible factors behind the rise in cases, however the "most likely" cause was believed to be adenovirus. This is a group of common viruses usually causing colds, vomiting and diarrhoea in children.
She told the BBC: ""Transplants in this age group are extremely rare so therefore we are concerned, and we want to understand why this is happening and what else we can do." She added that 77 percent of childhood hepatitis cases currently under investigation have tested positive for some form of adenovirus."
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is a rather broad term used to describe inflammation of the liver, usually the result of a viral infection but also caused by exposure to some chemicals, drinking too much alcohol, drugs and even certain genetic disorders.
There are five main types of hepatitis caused by specific viruses, these are known as A, B, C, D and E. However, none of these so far appear to to have caused the liver inflammation seen in these children.
Some types of hepatitis can pass without any serious problems, but some can last for longer. You can find out more about hepatitis on the NHS website, here.
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