Britain: Pet dogs may be a cause of hepatitis in children

Health experts in Britain recently warned that living with a "pet dog", or taking "paracetamol", may lead to mysterious cases of hepatitis in children.

On May 3, the World Health Organization announced that it continues to receive dozens of reports of children infected with acute hepatitis, the cause of which has not yet been determined, estimated at 230 around the world, and the cause of these severe infections in the liver is not yet known.

The majority of these cases were recorded in Europe, and the first was in Britain.

On April 5, the World Health Organization said it had reported 10 cases of acute idiopathic hepatitis in children under the age of 10 in central Scotland.

As of last April 8, the number of registered cases in Britain reached 74.

And 64 cases were in children from families who owned dogs or were exposed to dogs, out of 92 cases across Britain, according to Sky News Arabia, quoting the Health Security Agency in Britain.

Health experts are now exploring this link, which means that the prevalence of hepatitis among children may be due to the country's high levels of dog ownership.

It was also found that three quarters of the patients mentioned the use of the drug "Paracetamol", while the use of "Aspirin" was not reported.

Experts said the prevalence of paracetamol use is consistent with guidelines for the management of acute illness in children.

This hepatitis mainly affects children under the age of ten, and its symptoms include jaundice, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

A number of cases required a liver transplant.

And at least one of the children who contracted it died.

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