Hepatitis –A late manifestation of COVID-19 in pediatric population?

Abstract

Complete spectrum of covid 19 infection in children as well as its sequaele is still unknown to the world even after two years of ongoing pandemic. Many manifestations of covid 19 have been missed and are yet to be identified. In this study, we aim to hypothesize hepatitis as a probable late manifestation of COVID-19 infection in children. It was a descriptive retrospective study, in which we have included twenty patients who presented with hepatitis in the pediatric department of a secondary level care centre in Sagar from May to July 2021. And we investigated them further to find out the cause of Hepatitis. Among the 20 patients with HEPATITIS, 15 were tested for covid antibody levels, out of them 14 had raised level of SARS-CoV-2 antibody titre. Pediatricians should recognize that the clinical spectrum of COVID-19 in children can be wider than previously described, often with hepatitis as late manifestation of COVID-19 in children, apart from MIS-C.