California declares seven cases of severe hepatitis after child suspected of having disease dies

Seven more cases of severe hepatitis have been detected in California and a child has died in Wisconsin as the mysterious disease spreads across the country.

The California Department of Health said it detected the cases in “young” children, all of whom had fallen ill since October.

That brings the US total of suspected hepatitis cases to 27, with the condition now spotted in seven states – mostly east of the Mississippi River.

Wisconsin is the only state to report a suspected childhood death due to hepatitis. If confirmed, it will be the first in the country and the second in the world. State officials confirmed to DailyMail.com that the child developed the disease after being infected with the adenovirus.

Cases of this particular disease have already been spotted in Alabama, North Carolina and Delaware. Health chiefs in Illinois and New York are currently investigating reports of similar events.

The cause of the mysterious illness remains a “mystery,” said President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

But experts have raised concerns that lockdowns weakening immunity in children or even Covid infections could be to blame.

Nearly 200 children have been sickened by the disease across the world in up to 14 countries. At least 18 needed liver transplants.

Nearly 200 children have been sick across the world in up to 14 countries since last October * cases in Canada, Japan and Wisconsin, Illinois and New York have yet to be confirmed

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said the cause of the illness is ‘still a mystery’

The California Department of Health said it was unclear if adenovirus – which commonly causes the common cold – was the cause of the illnesses, or if the cases were linked.

Doctors have been left baffled by what’s behind the surge of cases – with the usual hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses being excluded from lab test results.

Health chiefs believe the disease may be triggered by an adenovirus, which commonly causes colds.

Dr Fauci told Bloomberg: ‘It’s still a mystery. It seems to be associated with adenovirus, but it’s not a slam dunk.

Alabama was the first state to report cases of severe liver damage two weeks ago.

Nine children were hospitalized in the state between November and February.

Three had acute liver failure and all children tested came back positive for adenovirus.

Two liver transplants were required, but all survived.

North Carolina identified two cases last month, with both children recovering. Neither had adenovirus.

Delaware reported this week that a child under the age of five was hospitalized with the same mysterious hepatitis. They are still under treatment.

A child has now been confirmed dead in Wisconsin, with officials revealing they are investigating whether their liver damage was linked to the same cluster of cases.

Wisconsin DHS said: “Since being made aware of this cluster of adenovirus-associated hepatitis, DHS is currently investigating at least four similar cases in children in Wisconsin.

“This includes two children who had serious consequences, a liver transplant and one death.”

The child who died and the child who required a liver transplant are confirmed to have been infected with the adenovirus.

Illinois officials said they identified three probable cases of severe hepatitis on Monday and a child in need of a liver transplant.

Dr. Tina Tan, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, said the cases are most likely caused by a virus because they appear in clusters.

She told Bloomberg: “What’s most unusual about all of this is that adenovirus doesn’t usually cause severe hepatitis in children without underlying health conditions.”

And New York state health officials revealed yesterday that they are investigating a case that appears to match descriptions of the mystery illness.

The condition – which was first spotted in Scotland at the end of March – has been detected 114 times in Britain.

Covid lockdowns could be behind the mysterious surge in childhood hepatitis cases as it reduced social mixing and weakened their immunity, experts say

Investigations are ongoing, but authorities have not yet ruled out that a new variant of Covid is to blame.

Another theory is that the children might have fought adenovirus at the same time as Covid.

British health officials have ruled out the Covid vaccine as a possible cause, with none of the sick British children having been vaccinated due to their young age.

Liver experts described the spate of cases as ‘worrying’ but said parents shouldn’t worry about the disease affecting their children.