The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting more cases of severe Hepatitis in children.
It looks like nine kids now have contracted Hepatitis, which causes liver inflammation. That’s up from the three announced in April. Public Health Spokesperson Mike Claffey says the cases date back to January and the most recent started showing symptoms earlier this month.
“This is not something we want folks to be alarmed by, but we are putting information out so that health care providers can help us identify other suspected cases. We want to run tests to find out if these cases are linked.”
Five of the children affected are from northern Illinois, two from western Illinois and one each in the central and southern parts of the state. One patient needed a liver transplant but none have died. Symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, fatigue and vomiting.
