About 70 percent of aplastic anemia cases have unknown causes or idiopathic. With the remaining 30 percent, some of the causes are acquired or inherited. In the United States, the bone marrow disorder affects 2 to 4 per 1 million people each year. This rare disease is difficult to diagnose but, lately, there is a growing number of findings of patients acquiring the disease as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals like benzene.

Aplastic anemia is characterized by extremely low counts of all blood cell types (red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets) even when test results show normal appearances for them. Physical symptoms may include: pale skin, pale nails, rapid pulse rate, fatigue, and heart murmur.

Children living with aplastic anemia may exhibit the following symptoms:

Abnormal bleeding Bleeding nose Bleeding gums Small hemorrhages underneath the skin Blood in stool Multiple bruises Oral thrush (white patches on red, moist, and swollen surfaces inside the mouth) Infection Fever Sinus tenderness Headache Breathlessness Enlarged spleen or liver Nausea Dizziness Most causes in about 50 to 75 percent of childhood aplastic anemia cases are unknown; but possible acquired reasons may include:

History of taking medications Exposure to toxins like benzene and pesticides Exposure to heavy metals Exposure to high-dose radiation History of autoimmune disorder like lupus History of infection to contagious diseases like hepatitis, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, and parvovirus B19 Aplastic anemia may develop in children who are diagnosed with the following diseases:

Fanconi Anemia – a blood-related disease that often leads to failure of the bone marrow Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia – a rare syndrome characterized by bleeding and bruising due to low count of platelets Schwachman-Diamond Syndrome – a rare disorder that mostly involves the bone marrow, as well as the pancreas and the skeleton Dyskeratosis Congenita – a rare disease with 3 types of symptoms: degeneration of fingernails, darkening or absence of skin color; and changes with mucous membranes in the mouth, eyes, urethra, and anus

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