Mom questions if her son is being passed over as public health officials monitor cases of childhood acute hepatitis

Photo: Contributed

Rebekah Pearce and son Alexandre

B.C.’s provincial health officer said late last month that there were no cases in this province of a childhood liver disease that is being monitored in several countries, including Canada.

But a Kelowna woman is worried her 16-year-old son has a case of acute childhood hepatitis and it might not have been reported to public health officials.

Rebekah Pearce told Castanet, Alexandre, who’s a Grade 10 student at Kelowna Secondary School, fell ill back in January.

He was admitted to the pediatric ward at Kelowna General Hospital with an inflamed liver. He was jaundiced and had elevated levels of liver enzymes. Pearce says the doctors diagnosed him with acute hepatitis with no known origin.

He remained in KGH through February and was then sent to BC Children’s Hospital for a biopsy. That’s where pediatric gastroenterologist Dr. Sylvie Label determined that he has autoimmune hepatitis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis.

When Dr. Bonnie Henry said on April 28, that there were no known cases of the severe acute hepatitis in BC among the cases being investigated in Canada, Rebekah wondered if Alex’s diagnosis had fallen through the cracks.

Nearly 200 cases have been reported in at least a dozen countries and at least one child has died.

Authorities in the United States said last month that they were investigating a cluster of otherwise unexplained hepatitis cases diagnosed in nine Alabama children who also tested positive for adenovirus.

Hepatitis A and E, which typically cause infectious liver inflammation, were not found in more than 100 cases investigated in the UK.

The leading suspected cause is adenovirus, which was detected in 75 per cent of the confirmed cases tested, according to the Health Security Agency in the United Kingdom.

Two other theories suggest that a toxin or viral co-infections associated with COVID-19 could be behind the mystery disease.

Dr. Henry said the illness is not linked to COVID-19 vaccinations, given that the majority of sick kids are under age 6 and therefore ineligible for vaccines.

Pearce said she started to reconsider Alex’s diagnosis when she saw stories in the media about health officials monitoring the emerging cases.

“Articles started popping up all over the internet and I thought, this is very common to the medical path that Alex took. With all the doctors saying this is acute hepatitis and they don’t know what’s causing it, and we need to figure it out.

“They did come up with a cross-over between autoimmune hepatitis and more evidence of primary cholangitis with Alex’s case. I don’t know if other children are getting answers after they get the first diagnosis of acute hepatitis.”

She asked the pediatrician in Kelowna if her son’s symptoms should be reported.

“The pediatrician said that she assumes that the gastroenterologist is following this quite closely, and at this point it wouldn’t have any implications with his medication or management. And the pediatrician left it at that. So, I’m not sure if the gastroenterologist team (at BC Children’s Hospital) are going to be adding Alexandre’s case to the attention of the Public Health Agency of Canada, or anything like that,” Rebekah explained.

Since that conversation, she has sent an email to Dr. Label for clarification.

In the meantime, Alex continues to have some symptoms, but is back at school after missing several weeks.

Castanet reached out to both the Public Health Agency of Canada and the BC Ministry of Health for comment.

The Ministry of Health said because of patient confidentiality it cannot go into details about any particular patient, case or diagnosis.

“BC Children’s Hospital has not seen pediatric cases of severe acute hepatitis recently. Therefore, we believe there are none yet in B.C. because most severe cases would consult with specialist physicians at BC Children’s. We are aware of suspected cases elsewhere in Canada and are watching the situation closely.”

The ministry added that there is collaboration among pediatric gastroenterologists across the country, including physicians from BC Children’s, who are identifying and tracking these cases here in Canada.

The PHAC notes it is working with its international partners as well as provincial and territorial partners to gather information on this evolving situation.

“Potential cases in Canada are being investigated further to determine if they are related to cases in the United Kingdom and the United States. We will continue to provide updates as the investigation evolves and new information becomes available,” said the statement.

Rebekah said she thinks it needs to be recorded that there is a possible case in B.C.

“If Alex is being passed over or not paid attention to, then are there other kids as well?”