What Parents Need to Know About Pediatric Hemophilia
When a child is born without a blood protein that aids in blood clotting, pediatric haemophilia develops. Children are therefore more vulnerable to serious bleeding and other risks. Options for treatment are efficient.
Most of us experience temporary bleeding that stops within a few minutes after suffering a minor cut or injury. Your blood contains a type of protein called a clotting factor, which prevents further bleeding. A child's blood lacks this clotting factor if they have pediatric haemophilia, a bleeding disorder. There could be excessive bleeding and other disabilities as a result of this.
Hemophilia is uncommon, typically affecting males, and affects about 1 in 5,000 people. Most kids with haemophilia can live full and healthy lives because it is a treatable condition. However, the condition calls for ongoing care.
Here's a look at what haemophilia is, what causes it, how to treat it, and how it affects kids.
What is pediatric haemophilia?
Children with haemophilia, a bleeding disorder, lack a clotting factor, also referred to as a coagulation factor, which is typically present in the blood. Children with haemophilia are more likely to bleed heavily and bruise easily. When bleeding is more severe than expected after circumcision or when a baby begins to crawl or walk and bruises easily, haemophilia may be identified.
The two main types of haemophilia are as follows:
- Hemophilia type A: Coagulation factor VIII deficiency is the main cause of type A haemophilia. It is the more severe and widespread variation.
- Hemophilia type B: Coagulation factor IX deficiency is what leads to type B haemophilia. It is the less typical variant. It is generally easier to treat and requires less medication.
Depending on how severe it is, haemophilia can be further classified into the following groups:
- Blood clotting factor levels are less than 1% in people with severe haemophilia.
- You have blood clotting factor levels of between 1 and 4% if you have moderate haemophilia.
- You have blood clotting factor levels of between 5 and 40% if you have mild haemophilia.
What are the symptoms of pediatric haemophilia?
The severity of a person's haemophilia will determine how severe their symptoms are.
Hemophilia patients with less severe cases may encounter:
- easy bruising
- increased nosebleeds
- frequently bleeding gums
- heavy menstrual cycles in those born with a gender preference
- heavier than usual bleeding following procedures or wounds
Those who have more severe haemophilia symptoms might experience:
- abnormal bleeding following delivery (like during circumcision or vaccinations)
- easy bruising, which may be seen as soon as a baby begins to move,
- heavy skin bleeding following cuts or minor wounds
- gum bleeding or difficult-to-control nosebleeds
- internal organ bleeding, including that of the brain, intestines, muscles, and joints
What causes pediatric haemophilia?
Hemophilia is almost always inherited and is brought on by a child's blood lacking specific clotting factors. Both haemophilia A and haemophilia B are X-linked diseases, which means that the X chromosome contains the affected genes.
One of the female parent's X chromosomes is likely to be impacted if she is a haemophilia carrier. Even if they don't exhibit any symptoms or signs of the condition, they can still pass it on to their offspring.
If the mother is a carrier:
- They have a 50/50 chance of passing the genes to their offspring.
- Inheriting the genes will result in haemophilia in males.
- Women who carry the disease genes will be carriers and can pass it on to their offspring.
No male child will have haemophilia if the male parent has it but the female parent is not a carrier, but there is a 50% chance that female children will.
Who’s at risk for pediatric haemophilia?
If haemophilia runs in the family, there is a chance that a child will be born with the condition since it is typically inherited. However, some kids are born without any family members having haemophilia. When clotting genes undergo fresh mutations, a child may be born with haemophilia.
About 80–85% of cases of haemophilia are haemophilia A, which is more prevalent than haemophilia B. Males are almost exclusively affected by haemophilia. Hemophilia can affect people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
What is the treatment for pediatric haemophilia?
Hemophilia is treated with intravenous (IV) infusions of the clotting factor that is absent from the child's blood. Once patients have received thorough instructions, they can administer these infusions at home. To prevent severe bleeding and other common problems, infusions must be performed frequently.
The development of new haemophilia treatments includes longer-lasting IV infusions that don't require as many applications and gene therapy, which can change a person's genes to enable the body to produce its deficient blood clotting factors.
What’s the outlook for pediatric haemophilia?
Before there were effective haemophilia treatments, the majority of kids wouldn't make it past the age of 11. Today, however, children who have access to treatments can live long, healthy lives.
Although the condition may be severe and going untreated could result in serious illness and disabilities, the available treatments are very efficient and secure.
How is pediatric haemophilia diagnosed?
Doctors will test newborns for haemophilia if the condition has a known family history. However, some infants without a known family history won't be tested until they exhibit symptoms like unusual bleeding or bruising.
Testing to determine whether the blood is clotting normally is required to diagnose haemophilia. Tests to check for blood clotting factors' presence or absence may also be performed by doctors.
Takeaway
When a child is born without a clotting factor that causes blood to clot, a serious condition known as haemophilia results. A child is at risk for severe or uncontrollable bleeding as a result. Infusions of the blood clotting factor the child is missing can, however, be used to treat the condition.
Please get in touch with your child's healthcare provider if you have a history of haemophilia or if your child is displaying signs of unusual bleeding or bruising.
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