Prevelance of Adenovirus in Children With Acute Hepatitis in Assiut University Hospital

Hepatitis is an inflammatory reaction of the liver that lead to a spectrum of health problems (1). Hepatitis results from a variety of causes, both infectious and non-infectious. Infectious agents include viruses and parasites. Non-infectious causes include drugs and toxic agents (2).

Viral hepatitis remains an important challenge to human health, making it a leading cause of death globally. The absolute burden of viral hepatitis is increasing gradually (3).

The most common types of viral hepatitis are hepatitis A, B, and C. The other types are hepatitis D and E, which are less frequent (2). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections are common and are associated with liver manifestations (4).

Adenoviruses have been linked to severe hepatitis in children. They are non-enveloped, icosahedral viruses of medium size (90-100 nm) (5). Adenoviruses usually infect the respiratory tract, eyes, urinary tract, intestines, and central nervous system (6). These diseases are generally self-limiting, but severe infections can occur in immunocompromised hosts (7). Children are more susceptible to HAdVs infection because their immune systems are less developed. HAdVs cause a range of symptoms, including colds, vomiting, diarrhea, and sometimes pneumonia, but rarely hepatitis in immunocompromised patients (8) In April 2022, the WHO has reported severe acute hepatitis outbreaks among children from 11 countries across Europe and America, which have induced great public concern, HAdV is presumed to be a possible etiology of this outbreak (9).

The diagnostic methods for adenovirus include antigen detection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), virus isolation, and serology (10).