Does polycythemia affect children differently than adults?

Polycythemia is usually diagnosed around the age of 60 years, and the disease seldom occurs in persons under 20. However, a temporary form of the disorder is seen in some infants. Multiple factors are known to increase the risk of infants being born with polycythemia including high altitude births, long gestation births, small size, identical twins, and infants born to mothers with diabetes. The condition in infants is treated with removal of some blood, dilution of remaining blood with IV fluids, and partial blood transfusions.