What’s going on with an alarming trend in which youth liver fitness is not to be assumed — but in fact, is in question? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently investigating cases of severe and unexplained hepatitis in children across the United States. While the cause of this condition remains unclear, what’s becoming more clear is that these cases may be linked to a worldwide outbreak, noting similar cases of unexplained hepatitis in children in England, Ireland, and Scotland.
Most of the children were healthy but developed symptoms common to hepatitis that included yellowing of their skin and eyes or jaundice, fatigue, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal issues, dark urine, and belly pain, among disturbing indicators. About 90% of the children had to be hospitalized. The severe liver inflammation was found to be unusual, as liver failure in children is generally considered rare. As of May 6, 2022, 14% of these reported patients in the U.S. need transplants, and five children have died.
On April 21, the CDC published a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory alerting clinicians to a cluster of unusual cases of hepatitis in 9 children in Alabama. Some reported cases go back to October 2021, and the CDC had asked doctors and public health officials to notify the agency if similar conditions, including unexplained elevation in liver enzymes, are seen in children under 10 years old.
The initial investigation found pediatric hepatitis and adenovirus infection in these children. However, the CDC’s deputy director of infectious diseases, Dr. Jay Butler, noted that not all of the hepatitis cases they are currently studying may be caused by the same thing.
Hepatitis infection — or inflammation of the liver — is complex; there are different types and causes. Viral hepatitis, such as hepatitis A, is highly contagious but typically causes mild illness. Hepatitis virus B and C can lead to serious complications, including liver failure and liver cancer. Other non-viral forms of hepatitis include autoimmune hepatitis, wherein the immune system attacks the liver, and alcoholic hepatitis, which occurs in those who drink excessive amounts of alcohol for a long period.
In evaluating the hepatitis cases of these children, the common causes of viral hepatitis have been considered, but they were not found in any of the cases. Adenovirus was been detected in over 50% of cases, but its role is still not clear. Adenoviruses are common and typically cause respiratory illness, cold-like and gastrointestinal symptoms — and in rare circumstances, neurological disease. Furthermore, Adenovirus infections have no specific treatment.
As of early May, over 228 pediatric cases have been linked to this mysterious liver illness. In the U.S. alone, cases have been reported in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
More research continues to test new theories and uncover unusual revelations about a youth trend that doctors and concerned families are hoping will decline; at the very least, hope will become more transparent — in terms of its causes — and therefore, through medical intervetions, will become manageable to treat.
As children aren’t often their own best health advocates, ADRLF wants to raise awareness by encouraging familes and educators to be mindful of observing hepatitis symptoms of potentially vulnerable youth, who are in their various circles.
To read the CDC’s Health Advisory Alert on this mysterious illness, click here
To learn more about hepatitis, visit our blog
