Hepatitis concerns place health authorities on alert

Health authorities and medical units around the country have been placed on high alert for the possibility of a severe acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in children making its presence in Greece.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no case had been identified that could be classified as a suspected case of acute hepatitis without a clear cause, although there have been some, albeit few, cases of children with hepatitis symptoms that have been investigated in recent days. However, these cases did not meet the criteria set by the National Public Health Organization (ΕΟDY). 

According to the official instructions issued by EODY, a probable case is defined as one in which any person under the age of 16 that has serum transaminases levels greater than 500 IU/L (AST or ALT), without documented hepatitis virus infection (A, B, C, D, E) from January 1, 2022.