Adenovirus may be the cause of nine cases of severe acute hepatitis in children in the US state of Alabama, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The nine children with severe acute hepatitis all tested positive for adenovirus and none of them had a history of COVID-19 infection, the CDC said.
Three of them suffered from liver failure and two had to undergo a liver transplant. They have recovered or are in the process of recovery.
The CDC has indicated that adenovirus may be the cause of these reported cases, but other potential environmental and situational factors are still being investigated.
Adenovirus type 41 typically presents as diarrhea, vomiting, and fever, often accompanied by respiratory symptoms, according to the CDC.
Although cases of hepatitis have been reported in immunocompromised children with adenovirus infection, adenovirus type 41 is not known to cause hepatitis in healthy children, noted the CDC.