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Common cold virus may lie behind mysterious global hepatitis outbreak
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By Steven Mew, the Australian Science Media Centre
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Mysterious cases of hepatitis in kids have now been reported in 11 countries, after the first cases were reported in the UK on the 5th of April this year.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are at least 169 cases of acute hepatitis of unknown origin in the UK, Spain, Israel, USA, Denmark, Ireland, The Netherlands, Italy, Norway, France, Romania, and Belgium. Seventeen children (around one-in-ten cases) have required liver transplantation, and at least one child has died from the condition.
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver, often caused by viruses known as hepatitis A,B,C,D, and E, which we began to properly understand during the 1970s and 80s. Hepatitis can also be caused by other toxins, drugs, and viruses, including the Herpes virus, measles, and adenoviruses linked to common colds, conjunctivitis, and gastroenteritis.
Aussie researchers suggest the cause could be an adenovirus called F41. This adenovirus is known to cause gastroenteritis in children, as well as 15 per cent of the global respiratory infections we know as the common cold.
According to Professor Peter White from the University of New South Wales, the F41 adenovirus is a DNA virus which can infect multiple different organs, sometimes causing gastro a few days after cold-like symptoms, or vice-versa. As the liver works closely with the gastrointestinal system, this could be a route for the virus to cause hepatitis.
"If the virus is now capable of infecting the liver, that would not be a surprise to me or any other virologist." He told the AusSMC, also suggesting that if F41 adenovirus is now infecting liver cells, it would suggest that the virus has changed.
Dr Vinod Balasubramaniam from Monash University Malaysia agreed that the outbreak may signal a change to F41. Adenovirus infections don’t tend to be as severe or last very long in kids unless they are immunocompromised, he told the Centre.
"In immunocompromised patients, Adenoviruses can on rare occasions cause hepatitis. In my opinion, the sudden surge of the infection in kids is very rare, especially in children who don’t appear to be immunocompromised."
"If Adenovirus is the cause of these cases, there could be a possibility that a newer variant of adenovirus has emerged that more easily causes hepatitis" he said.
Although there is good reason to be concerned about the outbreak, Aussie experts say that it's too early to tell if it will spread to Australia.
Professor Andrew Lloyd from the Kirby Institute, UNSW told the AusSMC that the fact that the disease occurred initially in England and then in Europe suggests it has spread between countries.
"It is not yet possible to confidently advise on protective measures, but adenovirus F41 is spread by what is called faecal-oral transmission and is controlled by handwashing after going to the toilet and use of disinfectants to clean surfaces" He said.
You can read the AusSMC expert reaction here.
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This article originally appeared in Science Deadline, a weekly newsletter from the AusSMC. You are free to republish this story, in full, with appropriate credit.
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"The future of life in the oceans rests strongly on what we decide to do with greenhouse gases today. There are two vastly different oceans we could be seeing, one devoid of a lot of life we see today, depending on what we see with CO2 emissions moving forward."
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Dr Justin Penn, a climate scientist at Princeton University who co-authored research published this week in Science.
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Discovery sheds light on why the Pacific islands were colonised (Nature Ecology & Evolution)
A new study explains why the Lapita people colonised the Pacific islands 3000 years ago, known as one of the greatest migrations in human history. The discovery of pottery from the ancient Lapita culture by researchers at The Australian National University makes clear the initial expansion of the Lapita people throughout Papua New Guinea was far greater than previously thought. News for: Australia; New Zealand; International.
Example coverage: The Guardian | New clues shed light on ‘pivotal’ moment in the great Pacific migration
More than a fifth of the world's reptiles face imminent extinction (Nature)
More than one-in-five reptile species (21 per cent) is threatened with extinction, according to a global assessment of more than 10,000 species by international scientists, including Australians. The authors say their findings suggest that some reptiles, including many species of crocodiles and turtles, require urgent conservation efforts to prevent extinctions. They assessed the conservation status of 10,196 reptile species, and found that at least 1,829 were threatened with extinction. Among crocodiles and turtles, 57.9 per cent and 50.0 per cent of species assessed were under threat, respectively. The main threats reptiles face are agriculture, logging, urban development and invasive species, while the risk posed by climate change is uncertain, they say. News for: Australia; New Zealand; NSW; VIC; SA; WA; TAS; NT.
Example coverage: The Daily Mail | More than a fifth of the world's REPTILES face imminent extinction - with some species of crocodile and turtle requiring urgent conservation efforts, study warns
Ancient hand grenades: explosive weapons in medieval Jerusalem during Crusades (PLOS ONE)
New analysis into the residue inside ancient ceramic vessels from 11th-12th century Jerusalem has found that they were potentially used as hand grenades. Previous research into the diverse sphero-conical containers, which are within museums around the world, had identified that they were used for a variety of purposes, including beer drinking vessels, mercury containers, containers for oil and containers for medicines. However, his findings also revealed that some of the vessels contained a flammable and probably explosive material that indicated they may have been used as ancient hand grenades. News for: Australia; QLD.
Example coverage: COSMOS Magazine | Were these ancient vessels actually ‘hand grenades’?
Giant ichthyosaur tooth and bones could be from one of the largest animals to ever live (Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology)
Fossilised remains of a giant tooth and the largest vertebra in Europe are among a set of discoveries from the Swiss Alps believed to be from some of the largest animals animals to ever live; ichthyosaurs. Little is known about the massive Triassic-era underwater creatures, with previously discovered fossil suggesting they were as long as 15 to 20 metres. The researchers say their tooth is the largest ichthyosaur tooth ever found, with the root twice as large as any other known aquatic reptile. They say the size of the vertebra suggests it came from an animal that rivals the largest marine reptile fossil known today. News for: International.
Example coverage: ABC | Fossils of ichthyosaurs found high in Swiss Alps may include Earth's largest ever animal, scientists say
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This week, we joined Bern Young on ABC Nightlife to chat about microplastics in the food chain. You can catch the full interview here
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