One baby has died and eight have been admitted to intensive care in a mysterious cluster of infections thought to be caused by a typically harmless virus.
In total, 15 newborns in Wales and south-west England have been struck down with severe Myocarditis — inflammation of the heart — since June 2022.
One of them is still in hospital, according to an alert issued last night by the World Health Organization.
Health chiefs were spooked by the ‘unusual’ spike in cases over such a short space of time, prompting a thorough investigation.
Nine of the cases tested positive for a type of enterovirus, which usually causes no symptoms or flu-like signs.
However, experts are baffled as to what has caused the sudden spike. Health chiefs in Wales are probing the reasons behind the cases and will investigate any further cases that are reported in the coming weeks.