Severe Hepatitis In Children: What PA Parents Need To Know

PENNSYLVANIA — Researchers are investigating a mysterious outbreak of severe hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, among previously healthy young children in 10 states.

While no cases have yet been confirmed in Pennsylvania, the state's Department of Health has shared the Health Alert Notice recently issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The alert went out to all pulic health authorities and clinicians in the state.

"The department echoes the recommendations of the CDC by reminding physicians to remain alert," Maggi Barton, a spokesperson for the Department of Health, told Patch.

The state's issued alert can be found online here.

The 10 states reporting this type of pediatric liver inflammation are Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin, where one child died.

Some 200 children, ranging in age from 1 month to 16 years, have suddenly become ill with severe hepatitis. Most cases are in Europe, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a nationwide health alert late last month urging pediatricians to test children for adenovirus infections.

The presence of an adenovirus infection among patients with hepatitis is a common link in outbreaks that have so far flummoxed both U.S. and European health officials. There appears to be no epidemiological link among cases, researchers have said.

• Related: CDC Issues Alert After Several Kids Develop Severe Hepatitis

Cold-like symptoms typically accompany adenovirus infections, but the virus has never been known to cause hepatitis, according to the CDC. These types of infections typically run their course, with no specific treatment recommended.

In November 2021, five children undergoing treatment for hepatitis at a large children’s hospital — three of them with acute liver failure — tested positive for adenovirus infections, which can cause cold-like symptoms among people of any age. Another four cases of children with both hepatitis and adenovirus infections were subsequently discovered. None of the patients died, but two required liver transplants