Minnesota health officials investigating possible Pediatric Hepatitis cases

(Minneapolis, MN) -- Minnesota Department of Health officials are investigating reports of pediatric hepatitis from several hospitals.

Tests at the M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital showed that a South Dakota toddler awaiting a liver transplant had adenovirus in her blood. A strain of the virus has been linked with hundreds of unexplained hepatitis cases in children worldwide.

A University of Minnesota pediatric gastroenterologist and transplant hepatologist says many of the are more severe and mean many of the children affected need liver transplants. The U says a six-month-old who became Minnesota's youngest liver transplant recipients in the fall had no signs of adenovirus.