36 States Confirm Acute Hepatitis Cases Under Investigation in Children

The U.S. CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) recently updated the ongoing investigation of children with acute hepatitis of unknown etiology.

Since October 2021, the NCIRD's data indicates (180) persons under investigation (PUI), with (36) states reporting.

On May 18, 2022, the CDC stated, 'PUI does not mean this person is a confirmed case.'

'While rare, children can still have serious hepatitis, and we don't always know the cause. That's why investigators continue to look at possible causes and investigate.'

'It’s important to understand that the vast majority of these are what we consider ‘retrospective’ patients.'

And, 'The states and CDC are looking broadly, so these numbers may go up or down as medical charts are reviewed, and we learn more.'

The CDC's reported PUIs are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available. Additionally, numbers for each state will not be released to protect patient privacy.

There is no known association between hepatitis viruses (A to E) with serum transaminases greater than 500 IU/l in these children.

Separately, the U.K. and Europe continue reporting adenovirus-related acute hepatitis cases in children who are generally COVID-19 unvaccinated.

About 11% were recently infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

This updated information is posted at PrecisionVaccinations.com/Acute.

Note: This CDC announcement was edited for clarity and manually curated for mobile readers.