Manitoba Health confirms 2nd pediatric case of severe acute hepatitis

A second child in Manitoba has been diagnosed with severe acute hepatitis, health officials say.

News of the latest case comes just one day after Shared Health confirmed the province’s first case Tuesday.

A provincial spokesperson told Global News both cases have been reported since October 2021.

Both are currently under investigation, the spokesperson added.

0:32 Severe acute hepatitis case confirmed in Manitoba child: Shared Health

Details including severity of illness, age and gender of the kids, and where in Manitoba the cases were found, have not been released due to concerns over patient privacy.

The province also hasn’t said whether or not either child had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday there are now 348 probable cases of acute hepatitis among children across five regions globally.

Otherwise healthy children are developing hepatitis, or liver inflammation often caused by viruses. Children impacted so far range in age from one month to 16 years.

It’s not known how the local cases were contracted.

“It remains to be seen whether this number represents an increase in cases of unknown origin compared to similar time periods in previous years or if any of these cases will be confirmed to be caused by a novel clinical entity,” the provincial spokesperson said.

5:23 Mysterious hepatitis cases in children reported in Canada

Authorities around the world are uncertain about what is causing the cases, but researchers are looking into whether a COVID-19 infection may be a factor.

Hepatitis is usually caused by one of several contagious hepatitis viruses, like A and B, which have not been found in the affected children. Sometimes the disease is mild and requires no specific treatment, but severe cases require hospitalization.

Hepatitis impacts the liver and can be detected by the onset of jaundice (yellow eyes), dark urine and/or pale stool.

Five children have died so far in the U.S. and there have been at least three deaths in Indonesia from the illness. Other children have needed liver transplants, the WHO said this week.

— with files from Global News’ Richard Cloutier,  Eric Stober and The Canadian Press