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Five children under 10 years have died in the United States as a result of a mysterious outbreak of hepatitis that continues to baffle health officials.
Now a total of 109 cases in children in 24 states and Puerto Rico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new cases come after the CDC warned doctors in April to be vigilant for symptoms associated with the hepatitis outbreak.
About two dozen states have now reported suspected cases of hepatitis following the initial warning from the CDC.
The 90 percent of the cases analyzed involved hospitalization, and 14 percent of children required liver transplants, reported CBS News.
Around the world, the World Health Organization warned about 300 probable cases in 20 different countries. Three children in Indonesia died from the disease last week.
“Researchers both here and abroad and around the world are working hard to determine the cause,” Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC, said Friday.
The oldest patient associated with the unusual outbreak was 16 years old, but most of the children are under 5 years old .
Doctors and disease experts have identified adenoviruses in about half of children who experience liver damage, leading health officials to health to investigate it as a possible cause.
There are dozens of strains of adenovirus in the world and it is often associated with mild symptoms such as sore throat, conjunctivitis, fever, or cold-like symptoms.
However, sometimes strains s can trigger more serious problems such as inflammation of the stomach.
Doctors have not yet issued a warning about an unusual number of cases of adenovirus, but most doctors don’t usually test for the virus.
In November, nine cases of severe hepatitis in children appeared, but all nine cases tested negative for the virus that usually causes hepatitis, although they tested positive for adenovirus.
“It’s still a very rare occurrence,” the CDC’s deputy director of infectious diseases said of the mysterious outbreak.
“Most of these cases have recovered and have fully recovered”.
He added that none of the nine November cases involved children who were vaccinated against the COVID-20.
The vaccine was discarded as a possible cause and the director of the CDC said: “We hope that this information helps to clarify some of the speculation that circulates online.”
Symptoms of liver inflammation and hepatitis include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain, and jaundice.
“There is no link with a geographical area , common exposure to particular foods or animals, travel or toxins,” Dr. Philippa Easterbrook, an infectious disease physician, told NBC News.
“We are analyzing all possible infectious and non-infectious causes”.
So far, there have been suspected cases of hepatitis in the following states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Neb raska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Puerto Rico reported at least one case.
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