Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 6068503, Japan.
Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 6068503, Japan.
Int J Infect Dis. 2022 Sep;122:30-32. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.05.028. Epub 2022 May 13.
To explore a potential country-based ecological link between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) infection and an apparent current global outbreak of severe hepatitis of unknown etiology among children.
We examined country-level statistical associations between reported detection of one or more unexplained severe hepatitis cases in children and the cumulative number of Omicron (B.1.1.529) cases in 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries plus Romania.
At least one focal hepatitis case was detected in 12 of the 39 countries included in our analysis. Numbers of confirmed Omicron cases reported in these 12 countries ranged from 4.4 to 11.9 million. Among the remaining 27 countries, this measure ranged from 0.5 to 5.5 million cases. Countries which reported focal hepatitis cases experienced higher precedent population burdens of Omicron cases relative to those which did not report any such hepatitis cases (p=0.013).
Prior exposure to Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) may be associated with an increased risk for severe hepatitis among children, indicating a critical need to conduct cofactor studies.
探索严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2）奥密克戎变异株（B.1.1.529）感染与当前儿童不明病因严重肝炎全球暴发之间可能存在的国家层面的生态学联系。
我们研究了在经合组织（OECD）38 个成员国加罗马尼亚报告发现 1 例或多例不明原因严重肝炎病例与奥密克戎（B.1.1.529）病例累计数之间的国家层面统计关联。
在我们分析的 39 个国家中，至少有 12 个国家发现了 1 例焦点性肝炎病例。这 12 个国家报告的确诊奥密克戎病例数从 440 万到 1190 万不等。在其余 27 个国家中，这一数字从 550 万到 5500 万不等。与未报告任何此类肝炎病例的国家相比，报告焦点性肝炎病例的国家此前的奥密克戎病例负担更高（p=0.013）。
先前接触奥密克戎变异株（B.1.1.529）可能与儿童严重肝炎风险增加相关，这表明迫切需要开展协同因素研究。
