6yrold diagnosed Jan 2013, ITP and fevers?

Hi, my daughter has recently been diagnosed with ITP. Her platelet count dropped to 6 the first time and was preceeded by a fever, cough and earache. After a 4 day steroid treatment, her count rebounded to 70, then a few days later to 350. A few days after that blood test she came down with another fever and cough. 2 days later she presented with petechiae and sores in her mouth. Her count had dropped to 4. She received one dose of IV IG and her count went up to 11. We are scheduled to have another count today (about 3 days since her last test). Just last night I noticed she felt warm and measured her temp. It was 101. I'm terrified that 1, her platelets will drop to nothing every she gets a fever and 2, does this constant recurrence of fever mean something beyond ITP and 3, does anyone see a relation between fever and platelet drop or is it just coincidence? All other numbers from her blood work have been normal and hematologist said her cells looked healthy on a smear. Still I'm so upset over this and worried for my little one. Never heard of ITP until 3 weeks ago. This site is very helpful. Thanks for any advice.

Platelet counts can drop for a lot of people when they are sick, but most just never know it because they don't have any symptoms. The counts can rebound on their own. In a person with ITP, or the disposition to acquire ITP, counts can drop every time the person gets sick. Some people find that counts go up when they are sick. It's different for everyone.

In children, they sometimes have acute ITP, meaning that counts will drop due to an illness, but they usually recover when the illness goes away or a few months after that. It seems like your daughter either has a recurring viral infection, or just keeps catching one thing after another. Tis the season. I don't think at this point that you need to worry about something other than ITP. Sometimes medications, like antibiotics, can cause a drop in counts too, so that could have something to do with it.

The good news is that your daughter responds to treatments, so in that case, she really isn't in any danger since you can get her low counts up fairly easily. You are doing all that you can do by monitoring her and treating when necessary. Hopefully, this will pass soon. If not, be assured that ITP is manageable.