Rare, Severe Liver Damage Reported in Kids in U.S. and Europe, but Doctors Can’t Pinpoint the Cause
Public health officials in Europe and the United States are investigating dozens of puzzling cases of severe hepatitis in young children.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. The cause is often a virus, but the viruses that commonly cause the illness—hepatitis A, B, C, D and E—have been ruled out in the cases in question, leaving doctors searching for the culprit.
In several cases, the illness was so severe that the children needed a liver transplant. No deaths have been reported.
The WHO on Friday (April 15) said it was investigating 74 cases of severe acute hepatitis in children under age 10 in the United Kingdom. Three cases were also reported in Spain, the WHO said.
In the U.S., nine cases have been reported in children ages 6 and younger in Alabama. Dr. Wes Stubblefield, district medical officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said that all of the children were otherwise healthy before becoming ill, and that there is no obvious link among the children.
