Canada is seeing an uptick in cases of unexplained hepatitis in kids. What does this mean?

Canada is reporting a higher number of children diagnosed with unexplained severe hepatitis, but experts remain cautious about whether this indicates a major increase in cases.

As of July 13, there were 24 cases of acute severe hepatitis in children not caused by known hepatitis viruses, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). This is up from 10 cases reported in May.

The children, who are between the ages of less than one year and 13 years old, became sick between Nov. 3, 2021 and June 29, 2022. All children were hospitalized and two children have required a liver transplant, according to PHAC.

Ontario is reporting the most cases at 13, Alberta has four cases, Quebec and Manitoba each have three and British Columbia has one.

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