Illinois health officials warn of potential cases of severe hepatitis in 3 children
PARK RIDGE, Ill. (CBS) -- Illinois public health officials are warning about three potential cases of severe hepatitis in children under age 10, including two in the Chicago suburbs.
One of the Illinois children was being treated at Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) said the three cases – two in the suburbs and one in western Illinois – are potentially linked to a strain of adenovirus, a group of common viruses that cause fever, coughs, sore throats, diarrhea, and pink eye.
One of the three cases resulted in a liver transplant, according to IDPH.
"IDPH is working to learn of other suspected cases in Illinois and is asking healthcare providers in the state to be on the lookout for symptoms and to report any suspected cases of hepatitis in children of unknown origin to local public health authorities," IDPH said in a statement.
Hepatitis is a general term meant to indicate an inflammation of the liver, according to Johns Hopkins. Symptoms of the infection can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain, and jaundice.
These cases appear to have an association with adenovirus 41, according to IDPH.
"Adenoviruses spread from person-to-person and most commonly cause respiratory illness, but depending on the type, can also cause other illnesses such as gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach or intestines), conjunctivitis (pink eye), and cystitis (bladder infection). Adenovirus type 41 typically presents as diarrhea, vomiting and fever, and is often accompanied by respiratory symptoms. While there have been case reports of hepatitis in immunocompromised children with adenovirus infection, adenovirus type 41 is not known to be a cause of hepatitis in otherwise healthy children," IDPH said in a news release.
The warning from IDPH follows a CDC alert last week in response to a cluster of nine hepatitis cases of unknown origin in children in Alabama, all of whom were previously healthy. The CDC is investigating the unexplained positive cases of hepatitis and adenovirus infection in children. The CDC issued a nationwide health alert Thursday asking parents and providers to keep a lookout for symptoms and report any potential hepatitis cases without cause to local and state health departments.
"CDC is working with state health departments to see if there are additional U.S. cases, and what may be causing these cases," the CDC said in the alert. "We continue to recommend children be up to date on all their vaccinations, and that parents and caregivers of young children take the same everyday preventive actions that we recommend for everyone, including washing hands often, avoiding people who are sick, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding touching the eyes, nose or mouth. CDC will share additional information as it becomes available."
The news comes almost six months since the health organization began investigating strange reported cases of hepatitis in children. Since October 21, 2021, the state of Alabama has reported nine cases of hepatitis in children between 1 and 6 years old without a known cause. The same kind of cluster infections were also reported by the World Health Organization in multiple countries, including Scotland, the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland.
In Alabama, the first five sick children were not admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 infection but presented with significant liver injury and liver failure in some cases. A deeper search found four other children with the same liver conditions that also had an infection of adenovirus 41, which can cause "pediatric acute gastroenteritis," according to the CDC.
Two of the children who developed hepatitis in Alabama also required liver transplants. Two other cases were reported in North Carolina. All 11 cases in those two Southern states are doing well.
"There is no need to sound alarms and panic right now," said Dr. Michael Bauer, a pediatrician and medical director at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital.
Bauer told CBS 2's Jermont Terry medical experts are trying to determine why this adenovirus strain is causing liver inflammation to some.
"We're talking about a very small cases that we're trying to look for that causal relationship," Bauer said.
As the research continues, what is clear is that none of the children infected were vaccinated against COVID-19 – nor did they have any evidence of past infection.
"Because we need to identify - is this a causal link? I do want to stress all the preliminary data does not seem to point to COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus - both infection or vaccination," Bauer said.
So if you're a parent, what should you look out for? Doctors say if your child is displaying severe abdominal pain or diarrhea, have them checked out and insist their doctor do a test for this adenovirus.
For more information, go to: https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2022/han00462.asp
