The headlines are scary. Kids around the world are getting hepatitis and no one knows why. At least 20 countries have reported unusual cases of acute hepatitis in children in recent months, prompting health agencies to investigate whether these cases are connected. While the overall number of cases remains small (so far around 350 have been reported worldwide), it is still higher than what is normally seen in healthy kids.
?We?re seeing clusters of cases of acute liver failure in higher numbers than normal, and it is somewhat alarming,? says Selena Sagan a professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Biochemistry at McGill University. And because some of the kids are becoming quite sick?a few needed liver transplants and there have been five deaths that are being investigated in the US alone?doctors are taking the uptick seriously.  What is hepatitis"
?Whenever you hear a word ending in -itis, that means inflammation or irritation of some part of the body. So with sinusitis you might have inflammation or irritation of the sinuses from an infection. Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver, and there are many causes of hepatitis,? says Anne Wormsbecker, a paediatrician at St. Joseph?s Health Centre and St. Michael?s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto. 
Wormsbecker explains that it can be confusing because there are also different viruses named hepatitis that can cause inflammation of the liver. But the hepatitis we?re seeing in children is liver inflammation and not an...