Why in fever or increased temperature body's platelets are reduced?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Manish7
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Temperature
AI Thread Summary
During episodes of fever, particularly viral fevers such as dengue, serum platelet levels often decrease, a condition known as thrombocytopenia. However, this reduction typically does not reach levels that cause significant internal bleeding or petechiae. The discussion highlights that not all fevers lead to this phenomenon; it is especially characteristic of viral infections where the virus can affect stromal cells. In cases like dengue, the reduction in platelets can be associated with pancytopenia. The relationship between platelet count and bleeding is complex, as internal bleeding may result from factors beyond just low platelet numbers, including changes in vascular integrity. In severe cases like viral hemorrhagic fevers, mechanisms such as disseminated intravascular coagulation contribute to bleeding, indicating that the interplay of various factors is crucial in understanding the clinical outcomes of thrombocytopenia during viral infections.
Manish7
Messages
25
Reaction score
0
i have observed that during fever or increased body temperature , serum platelets are reduced.
i have seen in patients of viral fever,dengue(its obvious) etc platelets are reduced but not to that extent that it can cause internal bleeding or haemorrhage or petechiae ?
why is this so ?
 
Biology news on Phys.org
You know about thrombocytopenia in general though right?
It's not all fevers - it seems to be characteristic of viral fevers where the virus can infect the stromal cells.
 
Certain viral infections (i.e. arboviruses like Dengue) can result in pancytopenia.

As to your question of why "platelets are reduced by not to that extent that it can cause internal bleeding or hemorrhage or petechiae"

The first thing is to sort out definitions. Petechiae is a symptom caused by hemorrhage.

If you average it out, internal bleeding is probably due as much to changes in intramural integrity as it is simply to thrombocytopenia but I'm not sure, I would have to think about it a little more. Clearly there is more to hemorrhage than platelet number. You could reason that platelet reduction to certain levels may be noticeable but not enough to cause petechiae (hemorrhage). In viral hemorrhagic fever (Ebola, etc.) internal bleeding is due to disseminated intravascular coagulation. In Dengue, there's probably a very similar mechanism at work in some patients with secondary or tertiary infection.
 
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-deadliest-spider-in-the-world-ends-lives-in-hours-but-its-venom-may-inspire-medical-miracles-48107 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versutoxin#Mechanism_behind_Neurotoxic_Properties https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0028390817301557 (subscription or purchase requred) he structure of versutoxin (δ-atracotoxin-Hv1) provides insights into the binding of site 3 neurotoxins to the voltage-gated sodium channel...
Popular article referring to the BA.2 variant: Popular article: (many words, little data) https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/17/health/ba-2-covid-severity/index.html Preprint article referring to the BA.2 variant: Preprint article: (At 52 pages, too many words!) https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.14.480335v1.full.pdf [edited 1hr. after posting: Added preprint Abstract] Cheers, Tom

Similar threads

Back
Top