New treatment for low platelets.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved WinRho SD, a new treatment for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). A clinical trial in children with acute ITP found that WinRho SD is as effective as IVIG or prednisone, but less expensive and dramatically easier to administer. WinRho SD is the first polyclonal antibody product shown to increase platelets in ITP patients. Platelets usually rise within one to two days and peak within seven to fourteen days after initial therapy. On average, platelet levels are maintained for approximately thirty days. Each year, 50,000 people nationally suffer from ITP as a complication of HIV infection, while another 18,000 manifest the disease as a primary condition.