How do children get ITP?
Doctors don’t know what causes ITP, but it often occurs in otherwise healthy children a few days or weeks after a viral infection. It’s thought that for some unknown reason this infection causes the immune system to lose the ability to distinguish between the body’s own cells and those of invaders. There is also some evidence that certain vaccines may trigger ITP, but this occurs in only a small percentage of cases. Why ITP happens in some children and not others who have had the same infection, virus or vaccine is not known.
