Professor Dror Mevorach, head of the Internal Medicine Department at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, spoke Wednesday morning about the unexplained acute pediatric hepatitis discovered in several countries.
"Every year there are cases of hepatitis among children, and also among adults, that we are not always know what they are," Prof. Mevorach told 103 FM Radio.
"It is not yet proven that this is a viral infection, and I am not sure of it - it certainly is not the classic virus - A, B, C, D, E. It is an infection that we don't yet know what it is."
Adding that such infections can come from toxins, food additives, sometimes from other things that can harm the liver, as well as from an autoimmune issue, he noted, "They thought that it was something post-coronavirus, similar to PIMS. But there are no clear proofs of that, because some of the children did not have coronavirus at all."
Though the pediatric hepatitis can be found in children up to age 16, it has been seen most commonly in children ages 2-5 - the age group both most likely to be asymptomatic for COVID-19 and entirely unvaccinated for the virus.
"I do not know of cases in Israel, but it could be," Prof. Mevorach continued. "Look, cases of hepatitis in children - there are in Israel. Are they connected to this wave? I am not sure and I think we don't know, because only in the past few days was a warning even sent out. So now they will pay attention."