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ITP Diagnosis and Overseas Travel

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8 years 3 weeks ago #63196 by nick2182
ITP Diagnosis and Overseas Travel was created by nick2182
Hey all,

This is a rather broad scenario type of question due to my diagnosis of Glandular Fever/EBV and ITP. I was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences with ITP due to travelling abroad and interactions with locals in what I would call - "developing nations". I'm struggling to understand how I am suffering from ITP and the associated timeline is rather confusing to me...this has been going on for me since 2013 (approx).

In 2013, I was a military member and was deployed to a developing nation for approximately 8 months - during my time there I interacted heavily with local nationals in interview settings - sharing food and drink in small rooms - with the local nationals not having adequate health screenings prior to interview. I conducted this role day in, day out for the entire 8 months.

Approximately 2-3 months of returning home my platelet count dropped to 23 (23,000) - based on information not being given to me regarding my platelet drop, I continued life as normal. 3 years later I was feeling unwell - flu like, swollen glands. I had a blood test and was rushed to emergency with a platelet count of 10 (10,000). After investigation it turned out that I had glandular fever - which I have been told probably triggered the ITP/platelet destruction.

My rather vague question - could I have contracted glandular fever from my interactions with local nationals from 2013, with a culmination of sickness three years later in 2016 which caused the continued platelet destruction (23000 - 10000) over a period of three years, until the time the flu like symptoms caught up with me?? And which came first - the ITP and due to being in a weakened immune state I contracted the EBV - or is it vice versa?

I have had blood tests carried out with most viral/bacterial infections that I can think of with nothing irregular found - other than the Glandular Fever/EBV.
If anyone else has had similar experiences I would love to hear - or if anyone can suggest other illnesses I can be tested for? Thank you.

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