getty A mysterious hepatitis outbreak has already affected at least 169 children in 12 countries, as I covered for Forbes on April 26th. It is mysterious because its cause has not yet been clearly established. But make a crazy guess as to what some are trying to blame on social media for the outbreak. Here’s a hint: it ‘s something that does not turn you into a giant magnet and does not make the keys stick to your forehead. Yes, anonymous social media accounts are trying to link the outbreak of hepatitis that left at least one child dead and 17 that require a liver transplant with the Covid-19 vaccine. And some of these accounts, along with a site called The Exposé, cite two “studies,” claiming that they serve as evidence. For example, here is a tweet from an account that calls itself Donald J. Trump Tracker: From Twitter From Twitter It is unclear at this time what he will do after leaving the post. But when you claim that someone said something, at least give the real name of the person or a link to the source. You may be watching Trump, but others should be watching where you get your information from. In addition, there is a major problem with blaming Covid-19 vaccines for hepatitis outbreaks. A World Health Organization (WHO) report from April 23 made it clear that “Cases of side effects from the Covid-19 vaccine are not currently supported as the vast majority of infected children have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.” How exactly can a child get hepatitis from a Covid-19 vaccine when that child has not even been vaccinated against Covid-19? It would be like blaming Madonna for making you late for work when you have not even met Madonna. So what about the two so-called “studies” that some have thrown around? For example, take a look at the following tweet that used a fire emoji and offered a post on The Exposé: From Twitter From Twitter Well, the so-called Pizer study references in this tweet are actually something that was published in Current Issues in Molecular Biology on February 25, 2022, long before the WHO announced the outbreak of hepatitis. All this study has shown is that when human liver cells in a test tube are exposed to the components of the Pfizer Covid-19 mRNA vaccine, the liver cells absorb the components of the vaccine fairly quickly. Of course, unless you happen to be a giant test tube, this does not necessarily mean that when you get the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, all the components of the vaccine will go straight to your liver. Just because the components of the vaccine can enter the liver cells, does not “suggest” that Covid-19 vaccines are responsible for the outbreak of hepatitis. For example, you can show that having 50 marmots in your bed can keep you awake all night, especially if you have to play parsnips with them. However, this does not necessarily mean that marmots are to blame for the lack of sleep that Americans generally have. Then there was this other “new study” offered by a tweet from another anonymous social media account and another post on The Exposé: From Twitter From Twitter This so-called study is not actually a formal study but rather a case report published in the Journal of Hepatology on April 21, 2022. The case report described what happened to a 52-year-old man in Germany who developed acute hepatitis two to three weeks after Pfizer Covid-19 mRNA vaccine. Samples of his liver showed signs of inflammation as well as the presence of T cells. T-lymphocytes, otherwise known as T-lymphocytes, are white blood cells that serve various immunoprotective functions for your body. The presence of T-cells strongly suggests that inflammation of the male liver may be due to the immune system responding to the Covid-19 vaccine. Doctors considered these findings “compatible with a possible autoimmune hepatitis” and treated it with oral budesonide and eventually steroids in combination with ursodeoxycholic acid. Eventually, within eight weeks, the man’s liver enzyme levels returned to normal. Well, yes, this case was proof that acute hepatitis could possibly be a side effect of the Pfizer Covid-19 mRNA vaccine. Again, however, a key distinction is that this was a case report and not a study. It showed what happened to an unmarried man (in this case, unmarried in number and not marital status) after the vaccination. A case report can not tell you how frequent or how likely an event may be. For example, last month I covered for Forbes a case report of a woman who ended up having a glass in her bladder for four years. Such a rare fact does not necessarily mean that you should never use a glass again or that you should run screaming every time someone tries to throw you a drink. Similarly, a case report or even multiple reports of acute hepatitis after Covid-19 vaccination should not be the only reason to avoid Covid-19 vaccines. So far, there is no evidence that acute hepatitis is more than a possible very rare side effect. In addition, not all cases of acute hepatitis are the same. Acute hepatitis is a very broad term for the sudden onset of inflammation of the liver. The man in the report of the incident survived from his period with acute hepatitis, apparently without permanent damage. This was not at all close to the damage seen in some of the children affected by the ongoing hepatitis outbreak. At this point, the main culprit behind the hepatitis outbreak is type 41 adenovirus, possibly in combination with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus, as I described earlier for Forbes. There are many different types of adenoviruses now. While some types are more likely to cause common cold symptoms or respiratory problems, type 41 adenovirus usually spreads through the fecal-oral route (which is a nice way of saying it by mouth). It usually affects your gut, resulting in gastroenteritis. Covid-19 vaccines use different types of adenoviruses, with Astra-Zeneca using chimpanzee adenovirus and Johnson & Johnson vaccine using type 26 adenovirus. In both cases, the adenovirus is inactivated so that it can not cause disease. However, some anonymous social media accounts have taken up the issue of adenovirus, claiming that it is evidence that the Adrenovirus-based AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines are linked to the onset of hepatitis: From Twitter From Twitter Again, such claims ignore the big problem that most of the children affected by the hepatitis outbreak did not get the Covid-19 vaccines, whether the vaccines are adenovirus-based or not. This would make it difficult for claims about Covid-19 vaccines to stick like keys in the forehead.
