The event phone number of children presenting with sudden andsevere hepatitis infectionsare continue to develop , a spokesperson from the World Health Organization ( WHO ) announced Tuesday .

“ As of May 1 , at least 228 likely case were reported to WHO from 20 countries , ” Tarik Jasarevic , a media officer at the Organization , told a Genevapress briefing .

There are “ over 50 additional cases under probe , ” he impart .

The death toll from the worldwide eruption may have increase this week as well , asthree children in Jakarta , Indonesia , are suspect to be the secret malady ’s late victim . These deaths , of minor aged two , eight , and 11 , bring the likely universal fatalities total toat least five .

The etiology of the unusual rise in childhood hepatitis case is still unknown , though one leading hypothesis puts the suit of the disease as a case of computer virus , known as an adenovirus . In the UK , where the majority of case have been get hold and the international alarm was first sounded last month , more than three - quarters of kid with confirm hepatitis essay incontrovertible for a peculiar adenovirus call F41 .

However , if correct , this explanation raises further questions : “ There are very few case reports in the orbicular literature of adenovirus contagion being colligate with hepatitis in immunocompetent children,”explainedWill Irving , Professor of Virology at the University of Nottingham , UK .

Indeed , the adenovirus is mostly have sex as a tummy bug or uncouth moth-eaten virus , only leading to more complicated consequence in immunocompromised patient . All the cases connect to the mysterious irruption have pass off in previously sizeable nestling , though , so if F41 is indeed what ’s behind the recent uptick in hepatitis cases worldwide , “ there will be a need to explain why the rude history of adenovirus contagion has changed so dramatically in 2022 , ” Irving enunciate .

Still , others remain skeptical . With so few font worldwide , it ’s not yet conclusive that the “ outbreak ” be at all – itmay bethat we ’re go through a procession inawarenessof hepatitis cases , rather than in the act of case themselves .

“ There is still little data to determine whether there is an outbreak , and for now the globular peril is think low,”notedLeandro Soares Sereno , Advisor for Viral Hepatitis Prevention and Control at the Pan American Health Organization ( PAHO ) .

“ As there is still no certainty about the origin of the disease , it is possible that we are becoming aware of a situation that existed before but went unnoticed because there were so few cases . ”

While the WHO , as well as various national and external health agencies , are continuing to supervise the emergence of cases , scientists stress that parents and health care provider should not care unduly about the eruption . There are “ only a small number of children affected,”saidDeirdre Kelly , Professor of Pediatric Hepatology at the University of Birmingham and Consultant Pediatric Hepatologist at the Birmingham Women ’s & Children ’s Hospital , and most of those have recovered well .

“ The most significant [ action for caregiver ] is to make up attention to symptom , such as diarrhea or vomiting , and to the color : if there are sign of jaundice – where the skin and whites of the eyes turn yellow – medical attention should be seek immediately , ” advised Sereno .

“ We commend basic hygiene measures such as laundry mitt and track your mouth when coughing or sneeze to preclude infections , which can also ward against the transmission of adenovirus . ”