{"id":199740,"date":"2025-06-20T11:31:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T11:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/199740\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T11:31:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T11:31:12","slug":"urgent-warning-over-worrying-surge-in-killer-virus-in-four-holiday-hotspots-bug-can-cause-liver-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/199740\/","title":{"rendered":"Urgent warning over worrying surge in killer virus in four holiday hotspots – bug can cause liver failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holidaymakers jetting off to four popular European destinations could be at risk of deadly ‘dirty hands disease’ experts warn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has identified a surge in hepatitis A infections sweeping through Europe, after nine people died from the virus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hepatitis A\u2014which is caused by a virus spread via contaminated faeces making its way into food and drink\u2014can be deadly, causing catastrophic liver failure.<\/p>\n

Now health officials have confirmed 2,097 cases of the disease, across four popular holiday destinations including Austria,\u00a0Hungary<\/a>, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to a new ECDC report, Slovakia has been hit the hardest in terms of the sheer number of cases, with 880 confirmed in 2025 alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cases in Austria have already topped last year’s figures, with 87 confirmed diagnoses including three deaths this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hungary has so far reported 530 cases this year, mostly among adults.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, the Czech Republic\u2014with 600 cases\u2014has reported the most deaths linked to the virus, with six fatalities following serious liver infections, with young children the most likely to fall victim.<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In the Czech Republic, 600 cases have been confirmed in 2025 alone, including six deaths. Pictured Prague<\/p>\n

Because the virus is spread through contact with faeces\u2014giving it the name ‘dirty hand disease’\u2014children who don’t wash their hands properly before eating are more likely to contract it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hepatitis A has few noticeable symptoms in its early stages but if left untreated can lead to liver failure and even prove fatal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Signs of the infection include a high temperature, flu-like symptoms\u2014such as fatigue, headache and muscle pains\u2014nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, pale grey coloured faeces and itchy skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In more severe cases, an infected person’s skin and eyes may appear yellow\u2014a condition known as jaundice and a serious sign the liver is struggling to function.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the NHS warns that most children, and some adults, may have no symptoms indicating they are infected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Barbora Mackov\u00e1, chief hygienist and director of the Czech Republic, said: ‘In the current epidemiological situation, we recommend getting vaccinated before the start of holidays and vacations.’<\/p>\n

The warning comes as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is tracking a\u00a0mystery spike<\/a> in Hepatitis A infections in Britain, after 95 people developed a serious liver infection, with 58 so ill they needed to be hospitalised.<\/p>\n

Officials have reported two separate clusters of the virus across the UK, with 53 cases having been reported since December 2024 alone in the latest wave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

Analysis of patient interviews has linked the outbreak to an unnamed specific food item purchased from an unnamed supermarket, which most patients reported consuming before falling ill.<\/p>\n

No deaths in Britain linked to the outbreak have yet been reported.<\/p>\n

Anyone who has not been vaccinated or previously infected is at a higher risk of catching Hepatitis A.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Patients diagnosed with the virus are advised not to drink alcohol, prepare food or drink for other people, have sex without a barrier method like a condom, or share needles with others until they are no longer infectious.<\/p>\n

This is usually around seven days after initial symptoms start, for those who do not have jaundice.<\/p>\n

Hepatitis A vaccines are not routinely given in the UK due to the generally low risk of getting the infection.<\/p>\n

But the NHS does advise the jab for travellers heading to places where the virus is more common.<\/p>\n

These include parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America.<\/p>\n

Hepatitis A very rarely rare cause of death in the UK \u2014 between 2005 and 2021, only 42 deaths were recorded with the virus as an underlying cause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Holidaymakers jetting off to four popular European destinations could be at risk of deadly ‘dirty hands disease’ experts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[92,105,2190,211,2558,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-199740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-hungary","11":"tag-nhs","12":"tag-slovakia","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114715471782376893","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}