1ºIt appears that some folks commenting didn't read beyond the headline. These cases, just over 200 world wide, are under investigation and most were too young to have received the Covid vaccine (but not too young for hepatitis vaccines).
From the article, CNN: Could these cases be related to Covid-19?
Wen: It seems unlikely. None of the children in the Alabama case series are in the hospital because of a Covid-19 infection. There is also no link with having received the Covid-19 vaccine. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency previously reported that none of its over 100 cases to date had been vaccinated.
And a reminder that cases of hepatitis had been declining, but the global pandemic caused major delays in vaccines and doctors are seeing an increase in certain diseases. #IamhereUS
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1069071
2º“Initial symptoms of hepatitis are nonspecific, meaning that a lot of people get these symptoms due to other causes. They include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite and joint pain. Later signs include dark urine and light-colored stools as (well as) jaundice -- the skin turning yellow and yellow being seen in the whites of the eyes and eyelids.”
There are cases in over 20 countries, and 25 states within the US. The cases in states are not necessarily contiguous. In Alabama, there are 9 cases, not from contiguous locations, and the age range is from 1-6; no, these kids are not vaccinated, no, the vast majority are not using masks, due to their ages and where we currently are with mandates, and no, they are not currently in lockdown. These are not the reasons. Researchers are trying hard to figure out the reasons.
#IAmHereUS
3ºFrom Medscape, 06 May 2022: For one, researchers agree that hepatitis A, B, C, D, or E — viruses that more commonly cause acute hepatitis — are not to blame in these cases. Nor are these cases definitively linked to SARS-CoV-2 infection, at least not so far, and there also is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination is to blame.
For example, in an April 29 study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), CDC investigators found no connection between COVID-19 and nine cases of hepatitis targeting children in Alabama. In a May 6 CDC media briefing, officials said they were not aware of any cases with documented COVID-19 infection; however, they are looking to see if any cases have antibodies pointing to previous infection.
Adenovirus is one possible suspect behind these new cases. In a technical report published May 6, the UK Health Security agency said that of 163 reported pediatric hepatitis cases in the United Kingdom, 126 were tested for adenovirus, and 72% tested positive. More than half of cases being investigated in the United States have also tested positive for adenovirus, the CDC said.