The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a health advisory urging state and local authorities to watch for cases of hepatitis in children with adenovirus infection.
Nine hepatitis cases in which children tested positive for adenovirus have occurred in Alabama since October 2021 among children aged 1-6, with two children needing liver transplants, the CDC said in the advisory.
No deaths have been reported. None of the children had COVID or were in poor health, the CDC said.
The CDC isn’t saying what caused the hepatitis cases but that “a possible association between pediatric hepatitis and adenovirus infection is currently under investigation.”
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. Adenoviruses are DNA viruses that commonly infect the respiratory system.
Doctors who encounter pediatric hepatitis patients should consider adenovirus testing and alert local and state health officials, the CDC said in the advisory.
Two cases have been detected in North Carolina, NBC news reported. A health official said the children had recovered and no cause had been determined, NBC News said.
Meanwhile, dozens of child hepatitis cases have been reported in Europe.
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency said that 108 cases in children 10 and under have been detected between January and April 12, with 79 cases in England, 14 in Scotland, and the rest in Wales and Northern Ireland. Eight children needed liver transplants.
The usual causes of hepatitis have not been detected, the agency said.
“The investigation, including information from patient samples and surveillance systems, continues to point towards a link to adenovirus infection. Seventy-seven per cent of cases tested were positive for adenovirus. However, as it is not usual to see this pattern of disease from adenovirus, we are actively investigating other possible contributing factors, such as another infection (including COVID-19) or an environmental cause,” the agency said.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said earlier this week that cases were also identified in Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands, but didn’t specify case numbers.
The Jerusalem Post, citing the Israeli health ministry, said 12 children under 5 had been diagnosed with acute hepatitis. Two of them needed liver transplants last year, The Post said.
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