At least 12 children have now died from mysterious hepatitis, and more than 450 have fallen ill –

Twelve children have died from the mysterious hepatitis discovered in an increasing number of countries.

An update Wednesday by EU health chiefs said 11 people had died worldwide, but a 12th presumed death was declared in Ireland on Thursday.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said there were 450 cases of fatal liver disease worldwide.

That number will undoubtedly be higher as the UK announced 13 more cases on Thursday and experts believe the latest increase is just the tip of the iceberg.

Five deaths have been confirmed in Indonesia and five deaths have been recorded in the United States, one in Palestine.

Since the beginning of April, 21 countries have detected “severe hepatitis of unknown origin”, mostly in children under the age of 10. At least 26 young people had to have liver transplants.

Scientists wonder what causes this unusual illness, but the main theory is that it’s caused by a group of viruses that normally cause the common cold.

Most global cases so far have been detected in the UK (176) and the US (110), although in some countries the lack of surveillance may mask the true scale of the outbreak.

Common viruses that cause hepatitis: hepatitis A, B, C and E viruses; they were not found in any of the cases reported worldwide.

Three-quarters of cases in the UK tested positive for adenoviruses, making the virus the main culprit.

Scientists are investigating whether a mutated strain of adenovirus has become more severe or if the lack of social mixing during the pandemic weakens children’s immunity.

They also could not rule out the possibility that an old Covid infection was involved.

In a weird twist last week, UK health chiefs are also investigating whether “dog exposure” is to blame.

The UKHSA said last week that “many” children with hepatitis in the UK come from families with dogs.

Authorities did not explain how the dogs might be to blame, but they are known to be carriers of the adenovirus strains.

However, Covid vaccines were ruled out as a possible cause, as most sick British children were not vaccinated due to their young age.

The UKHSA said most cases of children did not test positive for adenovirus, but acknowledged that this may be due to the way the tests were done.

Some of the negative cases looked for adenovirus only in respiratory and stool samples, although it was detected mainly in the blood.

In new guidelines this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States told doctors who treat children with hepatitis to take liver samples for analysis.

It is recommended that parents see a doctor if their child develops hepatitis symptoms such as pale gray stools, very dark urine, or yellowing of the eyes and skin.