Causes of Thrombocytopenia

Dengue is a mosquito borne disease, caused by dengue virus. It is most common cause of thrombocytopenia Dengue is spread by several species of mosquito Aedes, principally A. egypti.

Dengue virus

Has four different types of viruses DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN-4.Infection with one type, gives the patient lifelong immunity to that type, but only short term immunity to others. Subsequent infection with a different type increases the risk of severe complications. Viruses are tiny agent that can infect a variety of living organisms, is a microscopic structure that can only multiply inside the host. These four types of viruses are called sero types, as each has different interactions with the anti-bodies in the human blood serum.

Dengue fever is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito in the blood & can’t be spread directly from one person to another person. Dengue viruses after entering in the body invades the local macrophages and multiply there.

Symptoms of Dengue

Appear usually begin 4-6 days after infection & last up to 10 days, may include sudden fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, severe joint & muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, skin rashes appear 2-5 after the onset of fever, mild bleeding from gums.

Serious problems can develop, these include dengue hemorrhagic fever, a serious complication characterized by high fever. This complication of dengue can cause abdominal pain, hemorrhage & circulatory collapse. Also known as Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS).Affects children under 10 & occurs after 2-6 days.

Below the ribs there is a small organ called the spleen, which fights infection and filters unwanted substances into the blood. A lot of platelets get deposited in the enlarged spleen, which the spleen keeps in check. This reduces the number of platelets living in the blood circulation.

Platelets build up in the bone marrow and thrombocytopenia can develop due to certain reasons, such as leukaemia, any type of anaemia, viral infection (hepatitis C or HIV), chemotherapy drugs, and excessive consumption of alcohol.

If a medicine causes your body to produce antibodies, which seek and destroy your platelets, the condition is called drug-induced immune thrombocytopenia. Heparin, a blood thinner, is the most common cause of drug-induced immune thrombocytopenia.

Thrombocytopenia is a very common association of malaria. In the past it was thought that malaria is rarely associated with clinical features of thrombocytopenia like bleeding disorders and is usually an incidental finding on blood testing.

Let us know that each of the platelets present in a healthy body can remain correct for about ten days. The process of destruction and formation of platelets goes on continuously. If there is an increase in the number of platelets being destroyed, then this condition also becomes the reason for the lack of platelets. This happens due to the opposite effect of many types of medicines, such as taking medicines for urinary diseases. The following diseases and conditions are also reasons for the deficiency of platelets.

• Pregnancy
• Infection by bacteria in the blood
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura(ITP) (a disorder that increases the amount of blood drawn from scratches on the skin)
• Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura blood disorders
• Hemolytic uremic syndrome (a disorder that destroys blood cells)
• Disseminated intravascular coagulation
• Hypersplenism (hypersplenism, disorder of the spleen)
• Autoimmune disorder: disorder of the immune system

Thrombocytopenia means you have fewer than 150,000 platelets per microliter of circulating blood. Because each platelet lives only about 10 days, your body normally renews your platelet supply continually by producing new platelets in your bone marrow. Virus-induced thrombocytopenia is the one where viruses can directly infect bone marrow stromal cells and hematopoietic stem cells leading to defective hematopoiesis and thrombocytopenia. Viruses can trigger a decrease in platelet production by infection of megakaryocytes, which can lead to apoptosis of megakaryocytes, decreased maturation and ploidy of megakaryocytes, decreased expression of thrombopoietin receptor c-mph.