NC health officials are ‘monitoring hepatitis reports’ in kids amid worldwide outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating 109 severe cases of hepatitis in children in 25 states, including five deaths.
Health experts in North Carolina are keeping an eye on two abnormal cases of the disease in children that were found in March, WCNC reported.
Though neither case was reported in Mecklenburg County, officials are “monitoring hepatitis reports in the pediatric population to ensure appropriate reporting and follow up,” according to an email to The Charlotte Observer from the Mecklenburg County Health Department.
In the U.S., most of the children diagnosed with hepatitis were hospitalized and eight received liver transplants, but the majority have fully recovered, according to the CDC.
Internationally, at least 160 cases of “acute hepatitis of unknown origin” have been reported in 10 countries, according to a news release from the World Health Organization.
Here’s what you need to know about hepatitis, including the causes and symptoms, and what may be behind the outbreak.
What’s causing the hepatitis outbreak?
Researchers at the WHO suggested the hepatitis outbreak could be linked to a type of virus that can cause cold-like symptoms.
Of the 109 cases reported in the U.S., adenovirus was detected in half the children, but doctors are still unsure of the primary cause, according to the CDC. Neither of the children in North Carolina who were diagnosed with hepatitis tested positive for adenovirus.
“It is not yet clear if there has been an increase in hepatitis cases, or an increase in awareness of hepatitis cases that occur at the expected rate but go undetected,” the WHO said in a statement. “While adenovirus is a possible hypothesis, investigations are ongoing for the causative agent.”
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver and can be caused by the hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, or heavy alcohol use, medications and certain medical conditions, according to the CDC.
The CDC says many people who have hepatitis are asymptomatic, and symptoms can appear within two weeks to six months after exposure.
Initial symptoms of hepatitis are nonspecific, meaning that a lot of people get these symptoms due to other causes. They include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite and joint pain. Later signs include dark urine and light-colored stools as well as jaundice -- the skin turning yellow and yellow being seen in the whites of the eyes and eyelids.
A lot of children have viral illnesses that can cause gastrointestinal upset, fever and fatigue. If your child is unable to keep fluids down, that’s a sign that you should contact your doctor.
Is there a connection between COVID-19 and hepatitis?
Out of nine children in Alabama who were diagnosed with hepatitis in October, none were vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the CDC. However, health officials ruled out the virus as a possible cause of the outbreak. The WHO also said that the “vast majority” of children had not been vaccinated in the cases it had reviewed.
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 12:29 PM with the headline "NC health officials are ‘monitoring hepatitis reports’ in kids amid worldwide outbreak."
