Suggest Treatment For Fever, Mouth Sores And Anemia In A Child

Posted on Fri, 1 Jul 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 2 Jul 2016 Answered on

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : My 13 yo son has the following symptoms and we have appts to see a Gi doc and Allergist mid-month. I'm wondering if he needs another specialist (i.e. Heme-Onc) as I wonder if he has Aplastic Anemia.
- Frequent (sometimes daily) fevers by end of day - range 100 - 103.5; always breaks; sometimes wakes sweaty
- Mouth sores (small)
- Light brown/clay stools; no diarrhea, no blood in stool (did occult test); denies pain/cramping and abdominal tenderness
- Gi upset just started in the last week - describes GERD-like symptoms that seem to subside w/Tums
- CBC (May): Low WBC (neutros & lymphs), Low Hgb (diagnosed anemic), MCV & MCH, but platelets slightly high and RDW high
- Other blood work shows elevated CRP, low Vit D, Calcium, low Total Protein and Albumin

Thoughts? By the way, I was an RD for 15 years so you can talk medical lingo w/me.

Answered by Dr. Shailja Puri (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Possibility of malabsorption is present.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query on HealthcareMagic.
Anemia, clay colored stools, mouth sores and fever are the major symptoms.
I am of the opinion that there is some kind of malabsorption taking place leading to anemia, mouth sores and low proteins.
Clay colored stools occur due to any kind of obstruction in flow of bile pigments to the small intestine.
Elevated CRP indicates an inflammatory pathology.
Low vitamin D needs to be corrected with vitamin D supplements.

Thus, I suggest you to consult a gastroenterologist and get some investigations done to look for some gastro-intestinal disorder.

Thanks and take care
Dr Shailja Puri

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T