Mysterious Hepatitis Outbreak Infects NJ Kids

NEW JERSEY — An outbreak of severe hepatitis, with no known cause, has reached New Jersey, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention confirmed. The agency is investigating four pediatric cases of the disease that occurred between October and February.

All four New Jersey children survived and didn't need a liver transplant. The disease has been incredibly rare, with 180 cases nationwide under investigation. But five American children have died in the outbreak, and 9 percent of patients needed liver transplants.

New Jersey's patients under investigation range from 1 to 7 years old. They all tested negative for COVID, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

Health officials continue to investigate what's causing the hepatitis outbreak in children. Adenovirus — a group of common viruses with cold-like symptoms — appears to be a "strong lead," as the CDC has detected it in nearly half of children with hepatitis, the agency says.

The CDC has cast doubt on COVID-19 causing the outbreak, but researchers in the United States and around the world haven't ruled it out. A recent study from the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition suggests that the virus may trigger an "abnormal immune response" that then attacks the liver. But researchers in the study said it was impossible to prove COVID directly caused the liver disease.

Another study awaiting peer review suggests children with COVID have significantly more risk for liver dysfunction afterward, according to medRxiv. The study population included nearly 800,000 children between ages 1 and 10, including 245,000 who contracted COVID between March 2020 and March 2021.

Social media claims linking the recent hepatitis spike to the COVID vaccine are false, BBC reports. Health agencies in the United Kingdom have ruled out any link to the vaccine, as no children with the disease had received the jab as of the end of April.