US cases of child hepatitis reach 11 with global toll hitting 169, including one

The United States has now recorded 11 cases of unexplained hepatitis in children, as the global toll hits 169 and the first death is registered — with some doctors warning Covid infections could be behind the spate of illnesses.

North Carolina has detected two cases in school-age children, on top of the nine spotted among children under six years old in Alabama since October. Health officials say both in the Tar Heel state have recovered, and did not need liver transplants.

Although many scientists say adenoviruses — which can cause the common cold — are behind the outbreak, some suggest a previous Covid infection followed by catching an adenovirus, or being infected with both viruses at the same time, may be triggering the unexplained illness.

Dr Muge Cevik, an infectious diseases expert at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, said Monday on Twitter that ‘acute severe hepatitis has not been a common feature of Covid in children, so it’s less likely to explain this presentation.

‘(But) the general consensus is that it’s less likely for adenoviruses to cause acute severe (hepatitis) in healthy children, so need to continue investigating other causes.’

In Israel, 11 of the 12 sick children tested positive for the Covid over the last year. In Britain — which was first to detect the outbreak — scientists are still investigating Covid as a possible cause after finding it is the second most common infection patients test positive for, behind adenovirus which can trigger the common cold.

A total of 20 hepatitis patients have tested positive for Covid globally, and another 19 were found to be infected with both an adenovirus and Covid. Adenoviruses have been detected in 74 of the hepatitis cases. Neither child who developed hepatitis in North Carolina was infected with the adenovirus.

Other possible causes of the illness include a lack of immunity to adenoviruses, possibly due to lockdowns, and mutations in adenoviruses or Covid raising the risk of an infection triggering hepatitis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported the ‘acute hepatitis of unknown origin’ had been detected among children aged one month to 16, and led to the majority of patients being hospitalized and 17 liver transplants.

Twelve countries have detected the illness, with cases also detected in Spain, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Norway, Romania and Belgium.

UK health officials have ruled out the Covid vaccine as a possible cause, with none of the British cases so far having been vaccinated because of their young age. None of the cases in the US were among vaccinated children either. 

The World Health Organization said it has received reports of at least 169 cases of ‘acute hepatitis of unknown origin’ from 12 countries as of Saturday. In the U.S., cases have so far mostly tested positive for Covid

Sick children with unexplained hepatitis are most likely to test positive for adenovirus, according to data from England. Covid is the second most likely virus for them to test positive for. The graph above was presented today at a briefing from the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases based in Lisbon, Portugal