Hepatitis outbreak in children misleadingly linked to covid-19 vaccination

Online articles shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media claim the global outbreak of severe hepatitis in children is linked to Covid-19 vaccines, citing a study from April 2022 as evidence. and independent experts dismissed the idea that injections are to blame, saying most of those affected were too young to be vaccinated and that the study refers to the case of an adult with a different type of hepatitis.

“New Study Confirming COVID Vaccine Causes Severe Autoimmune Hepatitis Released Days After WHO Issues ‘Global Alert’ About New Severe Hepatitis Among Children,” reads the headline of an April 28, 2022 Article from The Expose, a website with a history of circulating inaccurate health information.

The story cites a case study of a 52-year-old man who developed autoimmune hepatitis after covid-19 infection and vaccination, then says: “The findings come just days after the World Health Organization issued a ‘global alert’ on a new form of severe hepatitis that affects children.”

AN severe strain of hepatitis of unknown origin has been identified in nearly 230 children in 20 countries, including three in Indonesia who died of the condition.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a realize on the subject on April 23, which ruled out the hypothesis that the disease could be a side effect of the covid-19 vaccines because “the vast majority of affected children did not receive the covid-19 vaccine.”

The organization told AFP: “There is nothing to suggest a link.”

UK health authorities also alerted the public to an increase in hepatitis cases in children, describing a “sudden onset” that had been identified since January 2022.

A spokesperson for Public Health England said: “There is no link to the coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine. None of the currently confirmed cases in children under the age of 10 in the UK are known to have been vaccinated.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a health notice “to notify physicians and public health authorities of a group of children identified with hepatitis and adenovirus infection.”

Nine young Alabama children affected by hepatitis all tested positive for a common pathogen called adenovirus 41, a study from the health agency published on April 29 said.

“At this time, we believe that adenovirus may be the cause of these reported cases, but other potential environmental and situational factors are still being investigated,” the CDC said in a statement accompanying the study.

Regarding claims that the cases are related to COVID-19 vaccination, CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said: “The ages of the cases ranged from 11 months to 5 years and 9 months, most of whom are not eligible for the covid-19 vaccine.”

All persons five years of age and older are currently eligible to obtain a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States.

A similar claim appeared on The Gateway Pundit, another website that has repeatedly spread inaccurate information.

“The Deputy Minister of Public Health of Madrid affirms that the cases of hepatitis in young children are ‘related to the Covid-19 vaccine,'” reads the headline of April 27 Article in the place.

A spokesman for the Spanish health agency clarified that the deputy minister antonio shoemaker had actually said the opposite, and referred to a media report which said that covid-19 vaccines had been ruled out as a cause of pediatric hepatitis cases.

Different types of hepatitis

sarah hassana pediatric transplant hepatologist at the Mayo Clinic Children’s Center, said the disease in young children that health agencies report is different from that described in the study used as evidence for the claim.

“This study was done in an adult trying to link Covid-19 vaccines and autoimmune hepatitis, which is a distinct and separate entity” from the hepatitis that affects children, he said.

rhyme fawazmedical director of pediatric hepatology at Yale University School of Medicine, said severe acute hepatitis reported in children is believed to be infectious, while autoimmune hepatitis, experienced by the man in the study, is not.

Autoimmune hepatitis is “an immune dysregulation, where your body has an abnormal response and attacks your liver,” and is treated by suppressing the immune system, he explained.

In contrast, sick children have infectious symptoms such as fever and are treated differently, Fawaz said.

It concluded that the evidence does not support the idea that the increase in pediatric hepatitis cases is related to Covid-19 vaccines. “Saying this is related to the Covid vaccination doesn’t make any sense,” Fawaz said.

infectious disease expert John Swartzberg agreed, saying the hepatitis outbreak among children and the single case of autoimmune hepatitis found in a man who was vaccinated against Covid-19 are “totally unrelated” and “have nothing to do with each other.”

Swartzberg, a professor emeritus at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, said the case of autoimmune hepatitis after Covid-19 vaccination reported in the study “should not at all” deter people from getting the shots.

“The risks of getting Covid… far outweigh the risks of getting the vaccine based on any of the complications that we’ve seen for the vaccine,” he said.

AFP has debunked hundreds of other examples of inaccurate information about Covid-19 here.