Children at any age can be afflicted with a variety of diseases affecting the blood system. More commonly, simpler diseases prevail in children such as Anemia or low Hemoglobin. This is a very common condition and there are a multitude of causes for this condition. In most instances, treatment is quite simple with provision of missing or inadequate nutrients and iron in the child’s diet, or by administering a blood transfusion for severely affected children. At the other extreme, a low hemoglobin count may signal a more severe disease process affecting the bone marrow and blood system. Many other diseases affecting other components of the blood : the white cells, and platelets are common in children. Proper diagnosis and treatment is curative in the vast majority. In some children this can be lengthy and repeat treatments may be necessary, particularly in genetically determined diseases such as Thalassemia.

A different set of diseases affecting the blood system cause conditions which are commonly known as leukemias ( blood cancers ). Another set called lymphomas also are relatively common. Tumours of various body systems and organs such as the brain, heart, liver, kidney, bones, cartilage, skin, intestine, and virtually any organ or tissue can occur at different ages throughout childhood. The cause for all these are varied : from genetic to exposure to toxins, metals, chemicals, and various other substances. Most of the tumours or cancers of solid organs are curable at an early stage of detection. Treatment involves the use of drugs ( chemotherapy ), surgery ( operative removal of the tumour ) and radiotherapy ( exposure to radiation therapy ). Combinations of these modalities, often combined with ‘ adjunctive therapy ‘ with special immunological products, in addition to the repeated transfusion of blood and blood components, and clotting factors, has greatly improved survival of affected children worldwide.

Children with diseases of the blood system and various cancers require a sterile environment for medical care, proper diagnosis and assessment of disease extent and prompt institution of treatment. Diagnostic testing often involves blood sampling, bone marrow sampling, scans, and special staining of tissue samples obtained by biopsy. At Kisholoy Children’s Hospital , we provide a controlled environment with special isolation rooms for such children. We have facilities for provision of chemotherapy, blood components, clotting factors and access to Intensive Care Units 24 Hours as such children are known to be very fragile and deteriorate rapidly during treatment.