A study of clinical and laboratory profile of febrile children presenting with thrombocytopenia

Abstract

Background: A large number of acute febrile illnesses have an infectious aetiology and many of them are associated with thrombocytopenia. The objective was to study the clinical and laboratory profile of febrile children with thrombocytopenia, associated clinical complications and assess the relationship between platelet levels and severity of disease.Methods: The study was carried out in 180 children up to the age of 18 years, seen in Out Patient Department as well as those admitted in the wards of Department of Paediatrics of a 999 bedded hospital in North India from July 2016 to June 2017.Results: The commonest causes of thrombocytopenia in our study were Viral Fever (other than dengue and chikungunya) 27.78% (50), followed by Dengue 22.2% (40), enteric fever 12.22% (22), chikungunya 11.11% (20), malaria 8.33% (15), septicaemia 5.55% (10), ITP 5.55% (10), haematological malignancy 1.67% (03) and megaloblastic anaemia 1.11%(2). Bleeding manifestations were present in 19.45 % of patients and the commonest sites were skin and mucous membranes. Bleeding manifestations were seen most commonly in children with a platelet count less than <20,000/μl.Conclusions: Viral fevers (non-specific) followed by dengue and chikungunya were the most common causes of fever with thrombocytopenia.