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Infant Has Recurring Fevers. Red Bumps All Over Body. Issue With Blood Cell Count? Could Be Leukemia?
Question: My son is 21 months old and has now been faced with recurring fevers for the past 8 weeks. Initially, there was no diagnoses for his high temperatures of 103-105. He did not have strep, flu, or anything else they could find by doing urine analysis, culture test, chest xray. He has a fever yet again and yesterday afternoon upon picking him up from his nap, he had red bumps (looked like bug bites) all over his chest legs a few on arms and foot. We are fairly certain though that they were not bug bites as they all disappeared at one time by the morning. I fear that he has an issue with his blood cell count, but even more so, I am now starting to worry that he may have Leukemia. He has been waking up several times in the middle of the night often feeling hot and sweaty although my husband and I are nearly freezing. He wakes up to drink quite a bit. The fevers that are recurring. He's always been a pale baby, and he bruises easily, but so do I along with my mother. We are just getting worried. We have switched Pediatricians as his previous was a waste of our time in trying to find out what's wrong with our soon! Any ideas would be helpful. Thank you
Hello,
Thanks for writing in.
I agree that fever of 103-105 F for 8 weeks is certainly worrisome and needs in-depth evaluation.
The rash is unlikely to be due to bleeding in the skin (due to low platelets, as in leukemia) as it disappeared within a short time. This, along with the fever and night sweats makes me wonder if it is a rheumatological disorder (like juvenile arthritis). Does he have any joint pain or swelling?
However, still we should rule out leukemias by getting a full blood count and may be a bone marrow also. Rheumatologic disorders can be assessed by ESR, CRP, rheumatoid factor, antibody profile, Xrays of joints, etc.
A computed tomography (CT) scan of chest/abdomen may also be done to rule out other infectious or malignant disorders.
Many of the above disorders are treatable and a rapid diagnosis is warranted.
Hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer any further queries.
Best wishes,
Thanks for writing in.
I agree that fever of 103-105 F for 8 weeks is certainly worrisome and needs in-depth evaluation.
The rash is unlikely to be due to bleeding in the skin (due to low platelets, as in leukemia) as it disappeared within a short time. This, along with the fever and night sweats makes me wonder if it is a rheumatological disorder (like juvenile arthritis). Does he have any joint pain or swelling?
However, still we should rule out leukemias by getting a full blood count and may be a bone marrow also. Rheumatologic disorders can be assessed by ESR, CRP, rheumatoid factor, antibody profile, Xrays of joints, etc.
A computed tomography (CT) scan of chest/abdomen may also be done to rule out other infectious or malignant disorders.
Many of the above disorders are treatable and a rapid diagnosis is warranted.
Hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer any further queries.
Best wishes,
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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