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SEATTLE - Health experts are puzzled over an outbreak of unexplained cases of hepatitis in children that has impacted kids around the world, including here in the U.S. and Washington state.

The CDC recently sent out a health alert to state health officials about the ongoing investigation into those cases.

"Fifteen days ago, the CDC issued a nationwide health alert to notify clinicians and public health authorities about an investigation involving 9 children in Alabama, identified between October of 2021 and February of 2022, with hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver and Adenovirus infection," said Jay Butler, M.D., Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases, CDC.

"All nine ultimately tested positive for Adenovirus, which is a common virus which typically causes mile cold or flu-like symptoms or stomach and intestinal problems," said Butler.

"The symptoms of a significant infection with hepatitis usually have to do with the belly," said Frank Bell, Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician, Swedish. "Belly pains, sometimes fever, often diarrhea and vomiting."

Bell says it's understandable that parents would be concerned about the CDC's investigation of the 109 hepatitis cases of unknown origin in children across the country.

"We see a lot of hepatitis, most of it is pretty mild. What we have been alerted to in the last couple of weeks, but going on for a few months now, is a more serious or more intense inflammation of the liver which seems to be affecting younger children," he said.

The CDC recently announced the expansion of that investigation to include at least one case in Washington.

"We are doing more testing," Bell said.

Local doctors say they are now on the lookout for Adenovirus, which the CDC said was present in the cases in Alabama and some of the other hepatitis cases under investigation.

"This is early stage in all these investigations, especially the more recent ones. W2e don't know of all those children who have come to our attention, with signs or symptoms that might be consistent with hepatitis, said Bell. "We don't know which of those might be related to this particular outbreak and which are part of just the regular infections that go on in preschool-aged children all the time."

"With Adenovirus infections, these children seem to be developing vomiting and diarrhea," said Dr. Pamela Valentino, Medical Director of Hepatology and Liver Transplantation at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Valentino says the Adenovirus is very common, but the CDC is investigating whether something has changed.

"It just seems like an exaggerated response that's going on," said Valentino.

"We received a number of reports of similar illnesses from health care providers and state health departments across the country and we have been working diligently to evaluate these reports," said Butler.

The CDC wouldn't say how many cases were under investigation in Washington. The Washington State Department of Health's spokesperson, Teresa McCallion told Fox 13 Friday, "We are aware of the situation and are actively investigating."

"When someone develops liver disease that's causing failure we get more worried in those instances when children develop yellow eyes, that's the best place to look," said Valentino.

Valentino says if a child isn't feeling well, or is getting dehydrated, it may be a good idea to go to an urgent care setting if you can't access a pediatrician. She did have some reassuring words for parents and caregivers.

"When new illnesses arise that have a lot of uncertainty, we all get a little worried. In general, this is a small number of patients," said Valentino.

"This is still an extremely rare phenomenon," said Bell.

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) sent out a statement Friday afternoon, saying it is, "Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify children with hepatitis of an unknown cause."

The statement went on to say, "Investigators are examining a possible relationship to adenovirus type 41 infection. DOH is in the process of conducting a retrospective analysis of pediatric cases involving hepatitis or adenovirus infections. This is an evolving situation, and we will provide additional details as they become available."

If you have any questions about your child’s health, The DOH recommends that you call your child’s healthcare provider. The DOH also suggested:

The weather is not exactly cooperating right now, but we still might be able to glimpse the year's first total lunar eclipse.

SEATTLE — It's an event stargazers have been looking forward too all month, and it's finally almost here.

Unfortunately, the clouds are also rolling in, just in time to ruin the fun.

The first of two total lunar eclipses visible to Washington residents occurs Sunday and will turn May's full flower moon blood red. It's also a supermoon — depending on whom you ask.

Not everyone will see all three stages of the eclipse. People living in the eastern half of the country and all of South America will see every stage of the lunar eclipse, according to NASA. Here on the West Coast, we'll still see the eclipse in its totality, but will miss other phases.

Here's what to expect:

Moonrise is around 4:50 p.m. PST Sunday, but the partial eclipse starts at 7:28 p.m. PST. Again, Puget Sound will probably miss this portion of the event, but we will be able to see it during the totality, which peaks at 9:11 p.m. Totality will last about 1 hour and 25 minutes, ending at 10:36 p.m.

Unfortunately, the National Weather Service is predicting cloudy skies the night of the event. They've been wrong in the past (in fact, this whole week was supposed to be mostly cloudy, and we've had a fair share of sunny skies), but forecasters are pretty confident that, come Sunday night, most of Western Washington will be under some cloud cover, with a roughly 70 percent chance of scattered showers.

Lunar eclipses only happen during a full moon, when the moon is opposite the sun in its orbit of Earth. In a total lunar eclipse, the sun fully illuminates the face of the moon. During an eclipse, the entire moon enters the darkest part of Earth's shadow.

In a penumbral eclipse, the moon passes through the outer part of Earth's shadow, only slightly dimming the surface of the moon. In a partial eclipse, the moon enters Earth's darkest shadow, the umbra, causing some of the moon to darken significantly.

"Blood moon" is a descriptive rather than technical astronomical term, though The Old Farmer's Almanac says the phrase is "hyped" and that a fully eclipsed moon is orange, or copper-colored like a penny, but not blood red. The moon's color at totality can also vary depending upon the amount of dust, volcanic ash or other particulate matter in the atmosphere, and because of cloud cover, according to Space.com.

Weather permitting, the lunar eclipse is worth staying up late to watch, even if it isn't a supermoon.

"Supermoon" isn't an astronomical term either, but rather one coined by astrologer Richard Nolle, who calls a full or new moon a supermoon when it is at 90 percent of its closest point, or perigee, to Earth. Under Nolle's definition, four full moons meet supermoon criteria: a new or "stealth" moon on Jan. 14, full moons on June 14 and July 13, and a new moon on Dec. 23.

However, Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist who worked at the Goddard Space Flight Center, uses slightly different criteria. He says the May flower moon is the first of four supermoons in 2022. He also counts the June 14 and July 13 full moons as supermoons. Unlike Nolle, Espenak says the Aug. 12 full moon will be a supermoon (bad news for Perseids meteor shower fans, because the supermoon and the peak of the summertime favorite coincide).

Although most often called the full flower moon, the May full moon is also known as the corn planting moon and the milk moon in the United States. In Asia, it is known as the Vesak Festival Moon because it corresponds with Buddha Jayanti or Buddha Purnima, a Buddhist holiday that marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.

The actual date of the Vesak festival depends on the calendar used in different countries and regions, but generally falls on or near the day of the May full moon.

If you miss the eclipse this month, the second 2022 total lunar eclipse on Nov. 8 will be visible across the Americas, Oceania and Asia.

Masks will continue to be required on buses and trains in the Seattle area, despite a ruling from a federal judge in Florida striking down the Centers for Disease Control’s mandate on airlines and public transportation.

Washington State Ferries, however, announced late Monday that masks are no longer required on vessels or inside terminals.

How strictly the rules will be enforced on other transit is unclear, as mandates have fallen away in most other public settings.

Regardless, King County Metro, Sound Transit and Kitsap Transit on Monday said their requirements would not change, as the judge’s ruling could be appealed and directives changed once more.

What you need to know about changing mask rules in Seattle area, WA and the U.S.

“While a federal judge in Florida ruled against the transit mask mandate, there may be an appeal from the Justice Department that could lead to a delay in implementation, or for the decision to be altered or overruled,” Metro spokesperson Sean Hawkes said in a statement. “In the meantime, Metro’s mask mandate remains in effect.”

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Sound Transit spokesperson John Gallagher said, “Sound Transit will maintain its decals and other mask-related signage until we have received further updates from the federal government. We will be evaluating next steps.” Gallagher did not say whether the signage would be backed up by enforcement.

Kitsap Transit, which runs three passenger ferries into downtown Seattle, “continues to require that everyone on its services wear face masks,” said spokesperson Sanjay Bhatt. “We will continue to enforce masks on our services until TSA updates its written directive to operators of public transportation.”

Masks optional at Sea-Tac Airport. Alaska, Delta, United among airlines dropping requirement

TSA said Monday it would no longer enforce the requirement on public transportation and at transportation hubs.

While most local transportation options took a wait-and-see attitude to the ruling, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and airlines moved more swiftly.

Airport spokesperson Perry Cooper said travelers are no longer required to mask up at the airport, though some airlines may be requiring masks on planes.

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Local airline giant Alaska Air announced Monday it was dropping its mandate, effective immediately, as did Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

Responding to the ruling, the Biden administration acknowledged the federal mandate was no longer in place and that enforcement would stop as federal agencies decided how to respond.

More on the COVID-19 pandemic

David Kroman: 206-464-3196 or [email protected]; on Twitter: @KromanDavid. Seattle Times staff reporter David Kroman covers transportation.

Seattle and Washington state have a lot to crow about when it comes to the innovation economy, including disproportionately large technology employment and R&D investment compared to many other states.

In that context, a different statistic is so jarring that Laura Ruderman, CEO of the Technology Alliance, made a point of saying it twice during the organization’s annual State of Technology Luncheon on Wednesday in Seattle — acknowledging that it might take a moment to sink in with the audience of tech leaders.

“We’d like to take a data-driven deep dive into the problem of why Washington state consistently ranks at the bottom of states that send their kids to college, in or out of state,” Ruderman said, describing the Tech Alliance’s upcoming goals.

The need for homegrown college grads is a key issue for talent-hungry tech companies. The statistic clearly surprised some in the audience, including keynote speaker Yoko Miyashita, CEO of cannabis information company Leafly, who brought it up during her on-stage conversation with Pallavi Mehta Wahi of K&L Gates.

“That’s just shocking, and we should be really appalled by that,” Miyashita said.

So what is the statistic, exactly? We followed up to find out more.

Ruderman pointed us to resources including the Tech Alliance’s Benchmarking Reports, the 2021 version of which offers this summary of data from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems: “53% of Washington students go directly from high school to college, placing us 46th in the nation and ahead of only Utah in our cohort states. Nearly 80% of students in Massachusetts go directly to higher education.”

It’s not a new issue. “Education experts say there is no single reason why Washington has stumbled at getting kids to go to college,” the Seattle Times reported nearly a decade ago. “It’s the sum of a variety of issues that have together created a weak college-going culture.”

The website Puget Sound Indexer published a series of stories on the issue, including this 2020 piece: “Why Don’t More Washington Kids Go to College?“

The issue also came up during a panel discussion at the event. Michelle Reid, superintendent of the Northshore School District, northeast of Seattle, said Washington state is 48th among all states in sending traditionally underrepresented students to post-secondary education.

“I think we have to stop thinking about this as a student issue. This is a system problem; there’s nothing wrong with our students,” Reid said, to applause. “Unless we can disrupt the system in significant ways, we will continue to put good people into the system who are not able to flourish, or have robust outcomes.”

Ruderman said the Tech Alliance, which is marking its 25th anniversary, plans to release an updated economic impact report next month, comparing the current state of the innovation economy to the 1997 version of the report.

The state is seeking a waiver that would allow residents to enroll in health coverage, regardless of their immigration status.

OLYMPIA, WA — Washington has embarked on what state leaders call a "groundbreaking" effort to expand health care access to everyone, regardless of their immigration status.

The state on Friday submitted a Section 1332 Waiver Application, asking the federal government to approve a plan allowing everyone to enroll in health and dental coverage through the state's health care marketplace, Washington Healthplanfinder.

"Since the introduction of the Affordable Care Act we have been charting a course toward providing health insurance coverage for all Washingtonians," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a news release. "This waiver comes at an important time in our health care journey and its approval would strengthen our ability to provide equitable access for historically marginalized and uninsured populations."

The state estimates that some 105,000 Washington state residents are uninsured because of their immigration status— nearly a quarter of all uninsured Washingtonians.

Proponents of the plan say that, not only will it help those uninsured Washingtonians access care sooner, it will lessen the overall strain on the state's health care system.

"When our patients lack coverage, they put off preventative care, decompensate and ultimately enter our health care system sicker with preventable conditions," said SEIU 1199NW, a union representing a combined 71,000 workers across Washington state." The costs to our State and our healthcare system are immense, and the costs to patients and families is immeasurable."

The state has been exploring this possibility since 2021, when the legislature ordered the Washington Health Benefit Exchange to find new ways to provide coverage for those Washington residents who did not qualify for state or federal health care coverage.

If the waiver is approved, those Washingtonians would become eligible for coverage starting in 2024. Many would also qualify for Cascade Care Savings, a new effort to increase the availability of affordable health care coverage in Washington.

"There are many in our state who have never had a chance to buy health insurance," said CEO Pam MacEwan. "This waiver gives those individuals a chance to secure meaningful health coverage for themselves and loved ones. Additionally, this opportunity aligns with other initiatives, including Cascade Care and premium sponsorship programs, to further state efforts to strengthen the individual health insurance market and lower the rate of the uninsured."

The federal government has until Aug. 1 to issue a ruling on the waiver.