There are many rare blood diseases and disorders which affect children and babies. Some of these diseases are so uncommon and unheard of, that they are not only difficult to treat but the treatment is available only at some of the hospitals and clinics in the world. Rare blood diseases in children are difficult to identify and are costly to treat. These diseases may result from a number of reasons and also because functions of blood are so complex. The following part of the article provides information about rare blood diseases in children:
Diamond blackfan anemia
Diamond Blackfan anemia is one of the uncommon blood diseases which may affect both adults and children. This disorder affects the red blood cell production and can be treated with steroids or RBC transfusion. The patients may receive bone marrow transplant but only in the case when a matched sibling is available.
In the past, the patients suffering from this disorder had to receive chronic transfusions, as a result of which they became iron overloaded. This overloading of iron was a life threatening condition for the vital organs of the body.
Aplastic anemia
This rare blood disorder is the most extreme and severe case of bone marrow failure syndrome with trilineage deficiencies. The children or adults who suffer from this disease get packed red blood as well as platelet transfusion dependent. Thus they are very likely to catch a severe infection. In this case, if bone marrow transplant is not possible then an immune suppressive medical treatment such as ATG may be tried.
Neutropenias
This is a disease which particularly affects children and is marked by the deficiency of infection fighting white blood cells. This disease is caused by chemotherapy that has been used for the treatment of childhood cancer. But there may also be other reasons for this disease to occur, like it may either be inherited without chemotherapy or cancer.
Immune Thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
This is another blood disorder which is very rare and mainly affects children and young adults. This disorder is marked with a viral infection which makes a child’s body produce more antibodies which attack the platelets in the body. Thus this disorder causes the body’s platelets to decrease in number and thus an increase in bleeding and bruising is caused. In most cases, this rare blood disease may reduce and remove itself but in 15% of the cases, treatment may be required to fight the chronic condition.
