The state Department of Health said it is investigating a report of acute pediatric hepatitis of unknown origin in a child living on Maui.
DOH said the child, who is under age 10, was hospitalized for several days at the end of April with abdominal pain and fever but has since been released.
“An extensive medical investigation was performed and there are a number of laboratory test results outstanding,” said DOH in a news release. “At this time, no cause has been determined. DOH is collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify the cause of the hepatitis case.”
The CDC, meanwhile, is investigating more than 100 children’s hepatitis cases with no known cause that have been reported in 24 states and Puerto Rico, including five deaths, according to Bloomberg News.
Roughly half of the suspected illnesses were linked to adenovirus, a common virus that typically causes cold- or flu-like symptoms or stomach problems, which makes the cases unusual, said Jay Butler, CDC deputy director of infectious diseases, in the Bloomberg News report.
The CDC on April 21 issued a nationwide health alert regarding a cluster of nine children identified with hepatitis of unknown origin at an Alabama hospital, all of whom were previously healthy.
The children — seven girls and two boys – ranged in age from 1 to 6 years old, the CDC said, and were admitted from October through February. Their symptoms included vomiting, diarrhea and fever.
In a follow-up investigation, CDC said all nine of the children in Alabama had tested positive for adenovirus, but none had a documented history of previous COVID-19 infection.
The CDC asked all physicians to be on the lookout for symptoms and to report any suspected cases of hepatitis of unknown origin to their local and state health departments.
More than 200 cases of
pediatric hepatitis of unknown origin have been reported worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, which received its first report of 10 cases from Scotland in early April.
Most of the cases have been in the United Kingdom, but WHO has since confirmed them in Spain, Israel, Denmark, Italy and France, among other countries.
The U.K. Health Security Agency says it is investigating whether previous infections from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could be linked to the cases. The agency said there is no evidence of any link to the COVID-19 vaccine since the majority of cases are in
children too young to have received it.
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver that can be caused by viral infections, alcohol use and toxins, according to the CDC in its alert.
Signs and symptoms of hepatitis include fever,
fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-colored stools, joint pain and jaundice.
