The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating cases of unexplained hepatitis in children. As many as 109 cases are under investigation. Last week, the CDC reported that these cases have affected children in 25 states and territories. Nearly all the children needed to be hospitalized, and five children have died, the CDC said.
Hepatitis, or swelling of the liver, can be caused by infections, autoimmune diseases, drugs and toxins. A family of viruses well known for attacking the liver causes hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
“Hepatitis isn't common in children, especially hepatitis that is not linked to one of the hepatitis viruses. This is the reason why the cases of unexplained hepatitis have been flagged thus far. There aren't many cases, but they are significant enough to warrant closer investigation,” said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Most of the children identified with these mysterious cases were otherwise healthy when they developed symptoms that included fatigue, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, dark urine, light-colored stools and yellowing of their skin and eyes – a symptom called jaundice.
There were some initial suspicions that these hepatitis cases could be linked to Covid-19, but Wen says it now seems unlikely.
“None of the children in the Alabama case series are in the hospital because of a Covid-19 infection. There is also no link with having received the Covid-19 vaccine. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency previously reported that none of its over 100 cases to date had been vaccinated.”
Dr. Jay Butler, the CDC's deputy director of infectious diseases, says investigators still believe these cases are very rare. They have not seen an increase, for example, in children coming to emergency rooms with hepatitis.
Hepatitis, or swelling of the liver, can be caused by infections, autoimmune diseases, drugs and toxins. A family of viruses well known for attacking the liver causes hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
“Hepatitis isn't common in children, especially hepatitis that is not linked to one of the hepatitis viruses. This is the reason why the cases of unexplained hepatitis have been flagged thus far. There aren't many cases, but they are significant enough to warrant closer investigation,” said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Most of the children identified with these mysterious cases were otherwise healthy when they developed symptoms that included fatigue, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, dark urine, light-colored stools and yellowing of their skin and eyes – a symptom called jaundice.
There were some initial suspicions that these hepatitis cases could be linked to Covid-19, but Wen says it now seems unlikely.
“None of the children in the Alabama case series are in the hospital because of a Covid-19 infection. There is also no link with having received the Covid-19 vaccine. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency previously reported that none of its over 100 cases to date had been vaccinated.”
Dr. Jay Butler, the CDC's deputy director of infectious diseases, says investigators still believe these cases are very rare. They have not seen an increase, for example, in children coming to emergency rooms with hepatitis.
