Alex Trelinski
TWO children have died of acute hepatitis in the Andalucia and Murcia regions of Spain.
They are the first deaths of youngsters in the country from the liver inflammation condition whose causes are unknown.
Spain’s Health Ministry says it is closely monitoring the situation following a UK alert to the World Health Organisation.
Officials say they have not noticed an increase in the number of cases of this type of hepatitis compared to figures in previous years.
46 cases have been reported in Spain this year involving children up to the age of 16.
15 cases were recorded in the Madrid area.
Three youngsters needed liver transplants but two of them died within a day of getting them- a 15-month-old Andalucia baby in June and a 6-year-old Murcia child at the end of July.
Health experts are baffled by what causes hepatitis and say the best available evidence points to a stomach bug that isn’t known to cause liver problems in otherwise healthy kids.
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