A child from Maine is recovering from a hepatitis infection, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday.
The Maine CDC said the cause was unknown, which is similar hepatitis cases seen in other states, but rare in children. The child, whose name and age are being withheld, was hospitalized for treatment of a serious liver illness, but is recovering, the Maine CDC said.
No further information will be released to protect patient confidentiality, the Maine CDC said.
Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, dark colored urine, light colored stools, joint pain and jaundice.
“Hepatitis with unknown causes remains rare in children,” Nirav D. Shah, director of the Maine CDC, said in a statement. “We encourage parents to call their children’s medical providers if their children experience these symptoms.”
Health care providers in other states have identified similar cases of unknown origin in recent weeks and have reported them to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The federal CDC is still investigating those cases to determine the cause.
The U.S. CDC said it was investigating 274 cases of hepatitis in children under age 10 as of June 8, 2022. Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan are some of the states reporting pediatric cases.
On June 7, the World Health Organization said at the World Hepatitis Summit that 700 “cases of sudden and unexplained hepatitis in young children have come under investigation in 34 countries. Symptoms of this acute hepatitis come on quickly leading to a high proportion of children developing liver failure with a few requiring liver transplants.”
Hepatitis can be transmitted through close, personal contact – particularly certain types of sexual contact – caring for someone who is ill, sharing drug needles or eating contaminated food or drinks.
Different strains of hepatitis can be caused by infectious or non-infectious diseases, but hepatitis A and B are preventable with vaccinations.
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