Rotavirus-associated immune thrombocytopenic purpura in children: A retrospective study

Abstract

Certain studies have previously indicated that an association may exist between rotavirus infection and primary immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The present retrospective study aimed to investigate whether rotavirus may cause ITP in children. Firstly, the incidence of ITP in children with or without rotavirus diarrhea was compared. A 14.58% incident rate was observed in children with rotavirus diarrhea compared with a 7.22% incident rate in children without rotavirus diarrhea. Subsequently, the clinical features of ITP children with or without rotavirus infection were compared. The results indicated that ITP children with rotavirus infection were significantly younger, showed significantly decreased mean platelet volume (MPV) levels and presented a significantly higher frequency of bleeding score of 3 against ITP children without rotavirus infection. In conclusion, these findings suggest that rotavirus serves a causative role in ITP.