All nine children diagnosed with “mysterious hepatitis” in Alabama in October and November 2021 tested positive for the adenovirus, and none had COVID-19, a new CDC reporter reveals.
The report, released Friday afternoon by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides the most detailed look yet into the nine cases that have sparked what is now a global outbreak of hepatitis.
All of the cases associated with the outbreak were a rare form of liver disease not caused by the usual suspects, hepatitis A, B, or C. Instead, many suspected that either COVID-19 or adenovirus was behind the infection.
Now the CDC has revealed all nine children have tested positive for the adenovirus and negative for Covid. The agency also reports that seven of the nine children were female and two years old or younger.
Some experts had initially speculated that COVID-19 could be at the heart of the recent global hepatitis outbreak, which has 20 confirmed or suspected cases in the US and over 100 worldwide.
The first cases emerged earlier this month and were spotted scattered across Europe and in Alabama.
These are not typical cases of liver disease, although experts are puzzled as to exactly how they occur, as it has been confirmed that the usual causes were not the cause.
dr Kathryn Smith (pictured), a pediatric transplant hepatologist at Johns Hopkins University, told that adenovirus has not yet been confirmed as the cause of this hepatitis outbreak and warns that the virus is not very rare
The CDC reports that this group of cases was discovered in children’s hospitals in Alabama in October and November 2021.
There is no geographical connection between the cases as the children are all from different parts of the state. The authority did not make which part of the state the children came from.
All were eventually treated at the Alabama Children’s Health System. Two required liver transplants and made full recoveries, and none of the patients died.
While the CDC did not give a specific age for each of the patients, it revealed that five of them were two years old or younger, one was either three or four years old, and three were five or six years old.
Six of the children were Hispanic White while the other three were non-Hispanic White.
Investigators noted that the most common symptoms were vomiting and diarrhea, with more than half of the children also suffering from a fever.
After another physical examination, eight of the nine children were found to have scleral icterus, a condition that causes a person’s skin and eyes to turn yellow.
Six others have also been found to have jaundice, a lung condition that presents in a similar way.
Each also underwent a PCR test to see if they had any viral infections – which are widely believed to be the cause of the liver disease developing.
All nine have been confirmed to have the adenovirus, while none have had Covid, effectively ending speculation that the virus, which has caused a global pandemic for the past two years, is directly responsible.
Wisconsin health officials also told this week that the four cases detected in the Midwest state – including the only death so far from hepatitis – were also caused by the adenovirus.
Adenovirus generally occurs with a common cold, although severe infections can progress to more serious conditions such as pneumonia.
All pediatric hepatitis patients in Alabama were found to have the adenovirus, while none had COVID-19 (file photo)
dr Kathryn Smith, a pediatric transplant hepatologist at Johns Hopkins University, told that adenovirus may not be entirely the cause.
She notes that the virus may have just been found in the cases incidentally, and since it hasn’t been found in actual liver tissue in any case so far, it’s possible it’s not the culprit.
‘[Adenovirus] is common, people get it a lot and usually present with diarrhea that throws up some as it can come with respiratory symptoms,” she said.
“But generally it’s pretty, you know, common in the community, but it doesn’t generally cause that kind of dramatic presentation.”