What Causes Mystery Liver Illnesses in Children?
2022-05-31
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Health officials are still looking for answers related to mysterious cases of severe liver damage in hundreds of young children around the world.
2The best available evidence points to a common stomach virus not known to cause liver problems in otherwise healthy children.
3That virus was found in the blood of sick children, but it has not been found in their diseased livers.
4Eric Kremer is a virus researcher at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier in France.
5He said, "There's a lot of things that don't make sense."
6The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health officials around the world are trying to find out what is going on.
7The illnesses are considered rare.
8CDC officials recently said they are now looking into 180 possible cases across the United States.
9Most of the children were hospitalized.
10At least 15 required new livers and six died.
11More than 20 other countries have reported hundreds more cases in total.
12The largest numbers have been in Britain and the U.S.
13Some signs of liver inflammation include fever, tiredness, loss of interest in eating and nausea.
14Others include stomach pain, joint pain and jaundice - a condition that causes a person's skin to turn yellow.
15Disease experts say they have been working on the mystery illness for months but have struggled to find an exact cause.
16The usual causes of liver inflammation in otherwise healthy children come from viruses known as hepatitis A, B, C, D and E.
17But none of those viruses appeared in tests.
18The children came from different places and there seemed to be no common means of virus contact.
19What did show up in tests was a virus known as adenovirus 41.
20More than half of the U.S. cases have tested positive for adenovirus.
21In a small number of tests to see what kind of adenovirus was present, adenovirus 41 appeared every time.
22Dr. Jay Butler is the deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC.
23He told the Associated Press that the fact that adenovirus keeps appearing strengthens the possibility that it plays a part in the illness.
24But it is still unclear how.
25Many adenoviruses are related to signs of the common cold, such as fever, sore throat and pink eye.
26Some versions - including adenovirus 41 - can cause other problems, such as inflammation in the stomach and intestines.
27Adenoviruses have been linked in the past to hepatitis in children, but mostly in children with weakened immune systems.
28Dr. Umesh Parashar is head of the CDC group that studies gut diseases caused by viruses.
29He said recent genetic studies do not suggest that a single new version of adenovirus is to blame.
30I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Health officials are still looking for answers related to mysterious cases of severe liver damage in hundreds of young children around the world. 2The best available evidence points to a common stomach virus not known to cause liver problems in otherwise healthy children. That virus was found in the blood of sick children, but it has not been found in their diseased livers. 3Eric Kremer is a virus researcher at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of Montpellier in France. He said, "There's a lot of things that don't make sense." 4The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health officials around the world are trying to find out what is going on. 5The illnesses are considered rare. CDC officials recently said they are now looking into 180 possible cases across the United States. Most of the children were hospitalized. At least 15 required new livers and six died. 6More than 20 other countries have reported hundreds more cases in total. The largest numbers have been in Britain and the U.S. 7Some signs of liver inflammation include fever, tiredness, loss of interest in eating and nausea. Others include stomach pain, joint pain and jaundice - a condition that causes a person's skin to turn yellow. 8Disease experts say they have been working on the mystery illness for months but have struggled to find an exact cause. 9The usual causes of liver inflammation in otherwise healthy children come from viruses known as hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. But none of those viruses appeared in tests. The children came from different places and there seemed to be no common means of virus contact. 10What did show up in tests was a virus known as adenovirus 41. More than half of the U.S. cases have tested positive for adenovirus. In a small number of tests to see what kind of adenovirus was present, adenovirus 41 appeared every time. 11Dr. Jay Butler is the deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC. He told the Associated Press that the fact that adenovirus keeps appearing strengthens the possibility that it plays a part in the illness. But it is still unclear how. 12Many adenoviruses are related to signs of the common cold, such as fever, sore throat and pink eye. Some versions - including adenovirus 41 - can cause other problems, such as inflammation in the stomach and intestines. Adenoviruses have been linked in the past to hepatitis in children, but mostly in children with weakened immune systems. 13Dr. Umesh Parashar is head of the CDC group that studies gut diseases caused by viruses. He said recent genetic studies do not suggest that a single new version of adenovirus is to blame. 14I'm Jonathan Evans. 15Mike Stobbe reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. 16Words in This Story 17inflammation - n. a bodily response to injury or disease in which heat, redness, and swelling are present 18nausea - n. a disturbed and unpleasant condition of the stomach; the feeling of being about to vomit 19pink eye - n. a contagious infection that causes the eye and inner part of the eyelid to become red and sore