Is aplastic anemia contagious?

Aplastic anemia is not contagious. It is just a bone marrow disease. This disease mainly causes a decrease in red blood cells and may even affect the normal hematopoietic function of the bone marrow. After the disease occurs, it needs to be diagnosed accordingly, including a systemic cell examination. It is also important to know that anemia can cause multiple complications in the patient's body and requires active treatment.

Overview Aplastic anemia is a group of syndromes characterized by bone marrow hematopoietic failure caused by a variety of etiologies, resulting in a reduction in the total volume of red bone marrow, which is replaced by fatty marrow and clinically presents as pancytopenia. Anemia, bleeding, and repeated infections are the three main manifestations. The spleen and lymph nodes are generally not enlarged.

(1) Pancytopenia, reticulocyte count <0.01, and increased lymphocyte ratio. The blood count must meet at least two of the following: (1) hemoglobin <100 g/l (2) platelets <50 × 10^9/L (3) neutrophils <1.5 × 10^9/L. (2) There is usually no hepatosplenomegaly. (3) Multiple parts of the bone marrow are hypoplastic (<50% of normal) or severely hypoplastic (<25% of normal), with a decrease in hematopoietic cells, an increase in the proportion of non-hematopoietic cells, empty bone marrow granules, and a bone marrow biopsy showing a decrease in hematopoietic tissue. (4) Other diseases that may cause pancytopenia are excluded, such as acute hematopoietic arrest, myelodysplastic syndrome, Fanconi anemia, PNH, Evans syndrome, immune-related pancytopenia, myelofibrosis, hairy cell leukemia, hypoplastic leukemia, anaplastic T-cell lymphoma, etc.

Clinical manifestations The clinical manifestations of aplastic anemia are progressive anemia, bleeding and recurrent infections. Primary cases and chronic cases mostly have a slow onset, while secondary cases and acute disease pathology often have an acute onset. Symptoms are severe, with infection and bleeding being the prominent symptoms. Fever, chills, sweating, oral and pharyngeal ulcers, common skin infections, lung infections, and severe cases may lead to death from sepsis. The bleeding sites are extensive. In addition to the skin and mucous membranes, there is often deep bleeding, such as blood in the stool, hematuria, and uterine bleeding. Intracranial hemorrhage can cause death. Anemia progressively worsens, accompanied by obvious fatigue, dizziness, and palpitations. This pathological condition is serious and has a short course, and commonly used symptomatic treatments are not easy to be effective. The onset and progression of chronic anemia are relatively slow, and anemia is often the first and main manifestation. They often feel tired and weak, and suffer from shortness of breath, palpitations, and dizziness after exertion. Bleeding is mild, mainly on the skin and mucous membranes. Except for uterine bleeding in women, internal bleeding is rare. Infection is common in the respiratory tract, the symptoms are relatively mild, and there are few cases of severe infection. Currently, the most effective clinical treatment for chronic aplastic anemia is the combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.