Hematological abnormalities in adult patients of chicken pox
Keywords:
Chicken pox, varicella, varicella-zoster virus, thrombocytopeniaAbstract
Background Chicken pox (Varicella) is a highly communicable viral disease that occurs mostoften in children but it can occur at any age and can prove more fatal in adults, due to itscomplications like pneumonia, thrombocytopenia and neurological abnormalities.Objective The study was aimed to see hematological abnormalities in chicken pox patients.Patients and methods Sixty patients of both sexes, aged between 15-50 years were includedin the study. Blood complete picture (CP) including platelet count was done in all cases onfirst presentation of the disease. A second blood CP was performed after two weeks duration.Blood hemoglobin (Hb), total leukocytes count (TLC) and platelets count (PC) were recordedand then compared with age and sex matched healthy individuals.Results Patients with chicken pox were found to have normal Hb and TLC but relativelylower platelet count as base line finding. A slight change was seen after two weeks in Hb andTLC while a significant improvement was observed in platelets (p<.05). When comparedwith healthy individuals, it was only the platelet counts that were significantly different(p<.001).Conclusion Anemia is not a feature of chicken pox but a relative leucopenia can be expectedas in any other viral infection. It is thrombocytopenia that is found more significantly inchicken pox, probably caused by production of antiplatelet autoantibodies in these patients.Platelet specific autoantibodies are probably the cause of thrombocytopenia in patients ofchicken pox and we should have a closer look on platelet count in such patients.References
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