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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory on Thursday (April 21) after a cluster of otherwise healthy children developed severe cases of hepatitis.
Nine cases were reported in Alabama, and two were identified in North Carolina. Health officials in several European countries have also seen a spike in the number of hepatitis in children under the age of six.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver and causes multiple symptoms, including diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. In Alabama, several kids developed jaundice and required liver transplants.
Health experts have not been able to determine why the children are getting sick. While hepatitis is caused by a variety of viruses, it is unusual for healthy children to develop a severe case. In addition, none of the children tested positive for the viruses that usually cause hepatitis.
"While there have been case reports of hepatitis in immunocompromised children with adenovirus type 41 infection, adenovirus type 41 is not known to be a cause of hepatitis in otherwise healthy children," the CDC said.
The agency is asking local health officials to test children with hepatitis symptoms for the adenovirus virus and report any positive results to the CDC. It also advises doctors to conduct full blood work on patients because it is more thorough and accurate than other types of testing.