Scientists find likely culprit behind mystery child hepatitis outbreak

‘Covid itself is not to blame for the mysterious hepatitis outbreak affecting children across the world, researchers insisted today.

However, pandemic-era lockdowns may have played a role.

Scientists today pinpointed a usually-harmless virus as being the main culprit for the unusual liver illness, which has sickened 200 youngsters in the UK and left a dozen needing transplants.

Two separate studies concluded that adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) seems to play a 'significant role'.

The virus, which does not normally cause any illness, infects most Britons by the age of 10.

But AAV2 cannot replicate without a 'helper' pathogen, such as an adenovirus — which usually just causes cold-like symptoms. Adenoviruses surged in line with the hepatitis cluster, which experts believe is because children had weaker immunity upon their return to pre-pandemic levels of mixing.

Therefore, a UK Health Security Agency-backed team of academics believe dual infection with these two viruses may offer the best explanation for the outbreak.

Until now, scientists have been flummoxed as to the root cause of the illness, with theories blaming Covid itself or even a mutation in an adenovirus strain. ‘

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The study…

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