Causes of Anemia in Infants : The Shortcut and Mnemonics in Anemia Causes

Causes of Anemia in Infants (List Only):

1. Nutritional causes

• Iron deficiency
• Vitamin B12 deficiency
• Folate deficiency
• Protein-energy malnutrition

2. Blood loss

• Gastrointestinal bleeding (e.g., anal fissure, Meckel’s diverticulum
• Birth trauma or internal hemorrhage
• Iatrogenic blood loss (frequent phlebotomy in NICU)
• Occult bleeding (cow’s milk protein-induced colitis)

3. Hemolytic causes

• Hemolytic disease of the newborn (Rh or ABO incompatibility)
• G6PD deficiency
• Hereditary spherocytosis
• Thalassemia
• Sickle cell disease
• Infections causing hemolysis (e.g., malaria, sepsis)

4. Bone marrow failure / decreased production

• Aplastic anemia
• Congenital pure red cell aplasia (Diamond–Blackfan anemia)
• Transient erythroblastopenia of childhood
• Bone marrow infiltration (leukemia, storage diseases)

5. Chronic disease / inflammation

• Anemia of chronic infection or inflammation
• Renal failure (↓ erythropoietin)

6. Physiologic / other causes

• Physiologic anemia of infancy
• Prematurity (low iron stores, immature erythropoiesis)
• Hypothyroidism
• Chronic blood loss from parasites (hookworm in older infants)