(Washington) American health authorities announced on Friday that they were investigating 109 cases of unexplained hepatitis in children in the United States, including five deaths.
Posted at 2:36 p.m.
These cases of severe liver inflammation have been detected in 25 states and US territories, and the affected children have a median age of just 2 years, said an official from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) during a a press conference.
Outside the United States, more than 200 cases have been identified, particularly in Europe, said another official.
Because of their young age, the children concerned were for the most part ineligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Vaccination against COVID-19 is not the cause” of this disease, hammered Jay Butler, deputy director responsible for infectious diseases for the CDC, saying he wanted to put an end to rumors circulating on the internet.
He clarified that infection with COVID-19 was not however ruled out as a potential cause.
The CDC, however, favors the trail of a certain type of adenovirus – viruses that are fairly common, but which have not previously been known to cause cases of hepatitis in healthy children. It has been confirmed that more than half of the children affected in the United States have tested positive for the so-called “type 41” adenovirus.
“Investigators here and around the world are working hard to determine the cause,” said Jay Butler.
The US cases have occurred over the past seven months, he said. And 14% of affected children had to receive a liver transplant.
“We know that this news can be worrying, especially for parents of young children. It is important to remember that this severe hepatitis is rare,” wanted to reassure Mr. Butler.
If 90% of the children had to be hospitalized, in the majority of cases, they recovered afterwards.