CDC 71 new cases of mysterious pediatric hepatitis

Another 71 cases of mysterious hepatitis are being investigated in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed on Wednesday.

No further deaths have been reported in the last two weeks, but they have been before CDC has revealed that it is investigating five fatalities in the outbreak – one of them Wisconsin.

Another child needed a liver transplant, bringing the number of patients in need of this procedure to 16.

A total of 180 cases of mysterious hepatitis have now been linked to the outbreak in 35 countries, with all patients under the age of 10.

This is the highest among all countries in the world with the United Kingdom being the first to detect an outbreak and having the second highest total with 163 cases.

The CDC said the “vast majority” of these patients were retrospective and had come to hospitals before May, but had only now been diagnosed with the mysterious disease.

Scientists are confused as to what causes the outbreak, but CDC officials say adenoviruses – which can cause colds – remain a “strong advantage” as nearly half of patients are positive for them.

Other theories suggest that the disease could have been triggered by previous covid infection, adenovirus mutation, or even exposure to pet dogs.

All normal causes of the disease – hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses – are excluded.

At least 12 children have now died from mysterious hepatitis worldwide, five deaths have also been reported in Indonesia and one each in Ireland and Palestine.

Today’s U.S. announcement means the global number of cases is at least 520 in 21 countries, mostly among children under the age of 10.

CDC officials said they are continuing to investigate all possible causes of the mysterious hepatitis outbreak.

They revealed that in the last two weeks, 11 more countries have discovered cases of mysterious hepatitis.

These were: Arkansas, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Virginia.

Earlier, the virus was detected by a total of 24 countries, namely: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

At the time, it was also reported that Puerto Rico had at least one case of the disease.

The CDC added: “It is important to note that severe hepatitis in children is still rare.

“However, we encourage parents and carers to be aware of the symptoms of hepatitis – especially jaundice, which is yellowing of the skin or eyes – and to contact their child’s healthcare provider in case of any concerns.

The U.S. outbreak of mysterious hepatitis began in October last year when nine cases were reported in Alabama.

CDC officials initially wrote them off as isolated incidents, but they turned their attention once again after the UK triggered an outbreak alarm on its shores.

Since then, U.S. health officials have issued two warnings urging doctors and nurses to watch out for patients with the disease.

Last week, a top scientist warned that the outbreak would continue “throughout the summer” and that many cases remained undiagnosed.

Dr Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, told DailyMail.com that cases will continue to occur because transmission of adenoviruses – the prime suspect – is usually “not seasonal”.

He noted that schools and kindergartens – where children mix – are the main centers for the spread of the virus.

Adenoviruses can be transmitted by touching surfaces infected with feces.

Dr Binnicker said in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com: “It would not be comfortable for me to say that this outbreak has reached its climax.

“I would say that cases will continue in the summer, because we will continue to visit children in day care, where there is more transmission.

“We don’t consider this type of adenovirus to be seasonal, we will continue to see cases throughout the year.”

Adenovirus children with mysterious hepatitis who are most likely to be positive for the scientifically named type 41.

This infects the stomach system, causing symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting.

It spreads through the fecal-oral route or when someone touches a surface contaminated with feces and later touches their own mouth.

Asked if many more cases would be observed in the U.S. last week, Binnicker noted that many are likely to still be diagnosed because they were milder.

“Hepatitis can occur on a sliding scale, causing an individual to be hospitalized at the other end, where he is much milder,” he said.

‘Inside [the mild] in cases, it may not encourage parents to take the child for examination or hospitalization.

“Many of these children will have symptoms of gastroenteritis such as vomiting, diarrhea and nausea, and some also face upper respiratory illness such as cough or sore throat that precedes hepatitis.

“Those who then get hepatitis will notice changes in skin color, so some have symptoms of jaundice or yellowing of the skin … from very very noticeable to very very subtle changes.

“Yellowing of the white eye is also something that is very obvious and parents are sometimes very shocked and other times it is very very subtle and we may not notice it.”