A young child had to have a liver transplant after being struck by a mysterious wave of hepatitis that infected at least 110 American children and killed five.
Two-year-old Bailey Schwab of Aberdeen, South Dakota, initially fell ill with nettle fever on April 22 and eventually received a transplant just two weeks later, on May 5.
The young man suffers from allergies, so her mother Kelsey was not particularly worried when she first noticed the edges last month.
But Kelsey, who lost her daughter Laramie to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in December 2021, still took Beilin to the local emergency department to be safe.
The young child was sent home with allergy medication only to wake up with yellow eyes the next morning.
Her condition quickly deteriorated after her mother returned her to the hospital the next day.
Recalling what the doctors said after taking the blood, Kelsey, who also has an older daughter, told CNN: “A few hours later they said you had to go to the hospital now and we would take you there.”
Kelsey says the news was further alarming after Laramie’s death, which came just 12 days before the little girl was one year old.
She runs a farm with her husband, who does not want to be named, and said of her family’s double test: “I think I have cried so much in the last five months that I have not shed tears.
“Going back to the hospital is like replaying in your head all day.”
Baileen Schwab is pictured in hospital awaiting a liver transplant last month after a two-year-old became one of about 110 American children with hepatitis
Baelyn’s donor liver is pictured after he was transplanted. She received the organ from an unidentified 16-year-old from Texas
Baileen is pictured with her mother, father, older sister and younger sister Laramie, who died of sudden infant death syndrome in December, 12 days before her first birthday.
Bailey was taken to the prestigious M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, where her condition continues to deteriorate.
Ammonia levels in her liver have risen dangerously high – to 109 – well above a healthy level of 25 to 40 – suggesting to doctors that the body has failed.
Dr Srinat Chinakotla, a surgeon at M Health Fairview, said Beilin was so ill that they feared she was on the verge of falling into a coma and suffering permanent brain damage or painful death.
This prompted them to schedule Bailey’s liver transplant just two weeks after she first became ill.
Beilin’s age meant she was given top priority for the procedure, and a donor liver was found shortly afterwards by an unidentified 16-year-old who died in Texas.
She is one of 15 children suffering from hepatitis – all of whom were previously healthy – to whom she has been transplanted in recent weeks, and doctors are still wondering what causes the outbreak.
M Health Fairview says it typically performs about 10 liver transplants on average children, but has so far performed two transplants on children with liver failure this year.
Baileen Schwab received a liver transplant on May 5 – just two weeks after a two-year-old South Dakota child contracted hepatitis as the disease infected dozens of American children
Bailin is in the photo after she was admitted to hospital, but before the transplant. Doctors are puzzled by how Bailin got this condition. She had COVID in December and was also positive for adenovirus – but this virus was not caught in her liver.
This is an unusually high number, according to Dr. Chinakotla.
“Her eyes no longer looked as if they were attached to her head,” Kelsey said of Beilin’s condition as she was transported for the May 5 life-saving operation.
“It simply came to our notice then. She still wants bananas, juice and a hug, as if she’s still there, but not really.
The stunned mother added: “Slowly watching her get worse, like her muscles, she started to tremble and it was hard for her to sit and she couldn’t lift her head, but just watching her go through it was like,” not my child. ” For example, will I ever return it?
Dr Srinat Chinakolta, pictured operating on Beilin, says it remains unclear what exactly caused her hepatitis infection
Bailin spent eight and a half hours in an operation that saw Chinacolta and his team gently modify the donor’s liver so that it could fit in the baby’s smaller abdomen.
He said that when the young man was opened for surgery, it was immediately obvious that her liver was badly damaged.
Kelsey was delighted with the immediate improvement after her daughter’s surgery, saying, “She came back from surgery and was no longer yellow.”
But Baileen is still facing a grueling recovery that is expected to take at least a year, including two months in hospital.
The young man is already awake, receiving painkillers and receiving physical therapy to regain his lost strength.
Doctors say he is recovering well.
Explaining the stress the ordeal had caused her family, Kelsey said: “I think we did everything we could to make sure we were sleeping. We definitely didn’t sleep or eat after the transplant, just expecting something bad to happen or has happened.
Doctors examined Bailin to try to determine what caused her infection. She was found to have tested positive for adenovirus, a condition that some scientists say may be linked to the outbreak.
But the adenovirus was found only in Baileen’s blood, not in her liver. This may be due to the fact that her liver was severely damaged during the examination, but doctors are still not wiser why she became infected.
Researchers are also investigating whether the hepatitis epidemic may be linked to COVID-19. Most of the young people killed are under 5 years old, which means they are too young to be vaccinated.
Baileen and the rest of her family became infected with COVID shortly after attending Laramie’s funeral.
And some doctors now want to test for antibodies in children with hepatitis to see if COVID appears in their systems.
The Beilin family has created a GoFundMe page to pay for the care of the young child and share updates for her recovery
EXCLUSIVE: The mysterious hepatitis epidemic in children will continue “all summer” and many cases remain undiagnosed, the expert warns – as the global death toll rises to 12, including five deaths in America
by Luke Andrews for DailyMail.com
The outbreak of mysterious hepatitis in America will continue “all summer” and many cases have not been diagnosed, a leading virologist warned on Friday – as the global death toll reached 12 with five deaths in the United States.
Scientists are puzzled by the cause, but leading theories suggest that behind the disease is a type of adenovirus that is spread by touching surfaces contaminated with feces.
Dr Matthew Biniker, director of clinical medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said the DailyMail.com cases would continue to appear throughout the year because the broadcast was not “seasonal.”
He warned that schools and day care centers – where many children mix – are major centers for the spread of the virus.
Dr. Biniker also warned that many cases of hepatitis among children remain undiagnosed in the United States because in some cases the children will not be ill enough for their parents to take them to a doctor or hospital.
The majority of children with mysterious hepatitis in the United States tested positive for adenovirus, but it is unclear whether the virus itself caused the disease or infection along with another factor, such as a previous diagnosis of Covid.
Adenoviruses are relatively common in children, but have rarely been associated with hepatitis until this year. Common causes of the disease – hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses – are excluded.
At least 12 children have already died from the mysterious hepatitis worldwide, with five deaths also reported in Indonesia and one each in Ireland and Palestine.
So far, more than 110 cases have been reported in 26 states, with 15 children becoming so ill that they needed a liver transplant.
Worldwide, 450 cases have been reported in 21 countries, mostly among children under 10. Most are in the United Kingdom (160), which first noticed the outbreak.
Dr Matthew Biniker, a clinical virologist at the Mayo Clinic, warned that the cases would continue this year.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Dr Biniker said: “I would not be comfortable saying that this outbreak has reached its peak.
“I would say that the cases will continue to appear during the summer, because we will continue to see children in day care, where there is a higher transmission.
“This type of adenovirus, which we don’t tend to think of as seasonal, will continue to see cases throughout the year.”
The adenovirus, for which most children with mysterious hepatitis test positive, is scientifically called type 41.
This infects the stomach system, causing symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting.
It is spread by faecal-oral route or when someone touches a surface contaminated with feces and later touches their own mouth.
Asked if many more cases would be seen in the United States, Biniker warned that they would most likely still be diagnosed because they were milder.
Questions and Answers: What is the mysterious global hepatitis epidemic and what is behind it?
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that is usually caused by a viral infection or damage to the liver from drinking alcohol.
Some cases resolve on their own without ongoing problems, but some can be fatal, forcing patients to need liver transplants to survive.
What are the symptoms?
People who have hepatitis usually have fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light stools, and joint pain.
They can also suffer from jaundice – when the skin and whites …
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