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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that it is investigating an outbreak of hepatitis cases in young children in the U.S. that has caused at least five deaths, caused 90 percent of those infected to be hospitalized, and 14 percent to require liver transplants.
The health body said most of the cases occurred in the past seven months and have infected children in 25 states. The CDC said the vast majority of patients have fully recovered and more than half of these children had an adenovirus infection.
STAT News also reported that another theory being considered is the possibility that a prior infection with another virus like SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, might have primed some children to become more ill when they were infected with adenoviruses.
Hepatitis can be caused by infections, autoimmune diseases, drugs, and toxins. At least 228 cases have been reported in 20 countries. The United Kingdom recorded 163 cases and 11 children have received liver transplants.
Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC, told reporters on a call Friday that the department is investigating the cause and is trying to determine if environmental exposures or medications may be playing a role.
Dr. Heli Bhatt, a pediatric gastroenterologist at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Center in Minneapolis, told CNN that her hospital has treated two cases and a 2-year-old from South Dakota required a liver transplant this week. She said liver failure in children is “super rare.”
One doctor from Alabama said he contacted administrators in the hospital because he saw two cases and the inflammation was unusually severe.
Doctors are confused because adenovirus does not usually cause serious illness in children. One of the lingering theories is that young children were not exposed to viruses due to COVID-19 lockdowns, which set their immune systems back.
“We really are casting a broad net and keeping an open mind in terms of whether the adenovirus data may reflect an innocent bystander or whether there may be cofactors that are making the adenovirus infections manifest in a way that’s not been commonly seen before,” Butler said.
He said there is no evidence of a link between Covid-19 vaccination and acute hepatic syndrome.
TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal reported last week that health officials around the world are tracking the outbreak of severe hepatitis in young children with unknown origins. Some scientists believe the outbreak could be tied to COVID-19 lockdowns based on the theory that these children were not exposed to normal viruses due to social distancing and other measures.