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Child Has High Eosophinil Count. What Could Be Causing This?

Posted on Fri, 1 Mar 2013

Question: my granddaughter who is ten, has a high eosophinil count, and has just had blood tests taken, could you tell me what could be causing this?

Answered by Dr. Stephen Christensen (4 hours later)

Hello. I'm Dr. Christensen.

I hope your granddaughter is doing well.

Eosinophilia (a high eosinophil count) can be caused by a number of conditions. Eosinophils help destroy foreign substances that have been "tagged" as potentially XXXXXXX by other components of your immune system, they release inflammatory chemicals in response to certain types of irritants -- pollens and parasites, for example -- and they help regulate your immune response. Thus, eosinophilia can be seen in people with allergies or asthma, parasitic or fungal infections, autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus), exposure to toxins, specific types of cancers (e.g., Hodgkin’s lymphoma or eosinophilic leukemia), inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), and other inflammatory, infectious or malignant disorders. There's also a condition called idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), where a person's eosinophil count rises to very high levels for no identifiable reason.

Without knowing more about your granddaughter, it isn't possible to identify the cause of her high eosinophil count. I suggest you talk to her doctor to clarify this issue.

I hope that helps! I'll be available to answer further questions, if necessary.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Stephen Christensen (9 hours later)

thank you for your reply which i found very informative, i would also like to ask your opinion as to whether there is a possible link between eosinophil count rise, and black mould? my daughter is living in a house where there is black mould in the rooms despite ventilating it during the day and having the heating on at night, and my granddaughter has become unwell since they moved there. my daughter, who is eight months pregnant, has continuously scrubbed the black mould off the walls, but she is goin to mention to the consultant who is seeing my granddaughter about it as they are doing blood tests at the moment

Answered by Dr. Stephen Christensen (3 hours later)

Exposure to molds can trigger eosinophilia in people who are allergic to mold spores. Your granddaughter may need to undergo testing to see if that's an issue.
Mold exposure has been linked to several respiratory syndromes, including asthma, wheezing, congestion and runny nose in otherwise healthy people, and hypersenstivity pneumonitis (a form of pneumonia). Other symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, nausea and difficulties concentrating, have not been consistently linked to mold exposure, although many people in moldy environments complain of such problems.
I hope the consultant can get to the bottom of your granddaughter's problems. If molds are implicated, the home where she is living will have to undergo remediation -- or your daughter and her family will have to find alternative quarters.

Note: Do you have more questions on diagnosis or treatment of blood disorders? Ask An Expert/ Specialist Now

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar