WHO Investigates Cases of Perfectly Healthy Kids Getting Rare and Severe Liver Damage

Increasing numbers of young children in Europe, the United States, and Ireland have gotten severe acute hepatitis, as World Health Organization (WHO) is looking into the cases.

Health officials have identified 74 cases in kids under ten years old in the United Kingdom. Three patients were reported in Spain.

Nine cases were reported in children aged six years and below in Alabama in the US. All the patients were reported positive for adenovirus. The two children needed liver transplants, but NBC News reports that no deaths were reported.

Hepatitis

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. There are different types of hepatitis, each with particular causes. Viral hepatitis is caused by one hepatitis virus: hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D, and E. Alcoholic hepatitis is caused by heavy alcohol use, and toxic hepatitis is caused by particular poisons, chemicals, medicines, or supplements. Autoimmune hepatitis, on the other hand, is a condition when the body's immune system attacks the liver.

Although some people do not have symptoms and do not know that they are infected, usual hepatitis symptoms include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea/vomiting, and abdominal pains. As per Healthline, they may also have dark urine, clay-colored bowel movements, joint pains, and jaundice.

Among the symptoms noted in the children in Alabama include diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Some children developed jaundice, and blood tests showed elevated liver enzymes.

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It may be due to adenovirus 41

Health officials have ruled out common hepatitis viruses as the cause. A leading theory is that the increase in cases may be due to adenovirus type 41, a different virus.

Health experts found that five of nine children in Alabama tested positive for adenovirus type 41 in October 2021 and February. However, experts find linking the cases to adenoviruses puzzling. The said viruses are respiratory viruses that usually cause common colds and are not generally associated with liver injury. The virus is rarely implicated in hepatitis cases in people with weakened immune systems.

Meanwhile, the children who contracted hepatitis were otherwise healthy when they became ill, according to Dr. Wes Stubblefield, district medical officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Stubblefield says that the theory is unusual as the virus has not been associated with the "constellation of signs, symptoms, and injury."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund, investigators are still learning more about adenovirus.

Expecting more hepatitis cases

CNN reports that the WHO announced that the etiology of the current hepatitis cases is still unknown, and it remains under investigation. Local health experts are also doing additional testing for other infections, chemicals, or toxins that may be linked to the condition.

The organization also warns that it is expected that more cases will be detected before they get the answers.

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