A child has died from hepatitis as infections in children hit 12 different countries, with the majority of cases spiking in the UK, the World Health Organisation has confirmed.
And 17 children have had liver transplants in a bid to save their lives.
At least 169 cases have been reported in children with 114 of those reported across the UK.
The organisation has issued the figures as health authorities around the world investigate a mysterious increase in severe cases of hepatitis - which causes inflammation of the liver - in young children.
The World Health Organisation has said that at least one child death had been reported following an increase of acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children.
Read about the symptoms of Hepatitis and what to look out for in children here
It gave no details of the death that it said had been reported, and did not say in which country the death had occurred.
As of Thursday, April 21, the WHO said acute cases of hepatitis of unknown origin had been reported in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Israel, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, France, Romania and Belgium.
It said 114 of the 169 cases were in the United Kingdom alone.
The cases reported were in children aged from one month to 16 years.
The WHO said a common cold virus known as an adenovirus had been detected in at least 74 of the cases, and covid-19 had been found in 20 others.
The organisation said it was closely monitoring the situation and working with British health authorities, other member states and partners.
US health officials have sent out a nationwide alert warning doctors to be on the lookout for symptoms of paediatric hepatitis, possibly linked with a cold virus, as part of a wider probe into unexplained cases of severe liver inflammation in young children.
