Prof. Magiorkinis: “We will have 5-10 severe cases of acute hepatitis in children in Greece”

Estimates concerning acute hepatitis in children are particularly worrying, especially for the age group of 5-17.

“There does not seem to be any way to protect children,” says the President of the Hellenic Pulmonary Society, Mr Stelios Loukidis, while the Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Member of the Committee of Experts, Mr Gikas Magiorkinis, estimated that 5-10 severe cases will be recorded in our country.

“We will have 5-10 severe cases of acute hepatitis in children in Greece“

Mr Magiorkinis pointed out that “if it is adenovirus 41 it is extremely difficult to contain it, as it is more infectious even than Covid-19”.

The estimates that in Greece there will not be a large number of cases of acute hepatitis in children was expressed by the Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Member of the Committee of Experts, Mr Gikas Magiorkinis, speaking to skai channel, but stressed that 5-10 severe incidents will be recorded in any case.

In fact, he added that it will be extremely difficult to contain the spread of hepatitis, noting that “There are many cases in many countries that are not connected to each other. There are clusters of cases. Most of these cases cannot be explained, which means either that there is a wide spread of the virus, or that it is a virus that has been circulating for many years. The fact that the last few years there were no cases of hepatitis in children is probably due to the fact that we were in lockdown”.

Regarding the causes of the new form of hepatitis, he said that so far we are only making assumptions, but he estimated that the reason we are seeing cases at this time in children is mainly due to the fact that hepatitis in previous years affected mainly older age groups, who have acquired immunity.

Mr Mayorkinis pointed out that “if it is adenovirus 41 it is extremely difficult to contain it, as it is more infectious even than Covid-19”.

“There doesn’t seem to be any way to protect children”

The President of the Hellenic Pulmonary Society, Mr Stelios Loukidis, speaking to ERT channel expressed the view that we should wait for the specialists to rule on the acute hepatitis outbreak in children mainly of the age group 5-17, in order to have a clear picture.

“If we are talking about adenovirus 41 it is extremely difficult to contain it, as it is more infectious even than Covid-19,” pointed out Professor Magiorkinis for the acute hepatitis that mainly affects children at the ages of 5-17 years old.

Mr Loukidis stressed the need for experts who have thoroughly studied all the data to express their view on hepatitis, as the cause of the outbreak have not been clarified, so far. At the same time, he noted that there does not seem to be any way of protecting children.

Concerning the masks in schools

Referring to Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Magiorkinis estimated that in the next period there will either be a levelling of cases or a small increase, however there will be no outbreak of the virus that could cause problems.

He also advocated the abolition of masks in schools, stressing that it is very likely that the use of mask mandate will be lifted in September, if not in the next days.

“I am in favour of abolishing masks in schools, we are already discussing this possibility, but it is not entirely up to me,” he said, among other things.

Regarding the fourth shot of Covid-19 vaccine to general population, he pointed out that such a decision has not been made yet, adding that, if necessary, a fourth shot will be provided to citizens from September or October.