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Is My Blood Report Normal ?

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Posted on Mon, 23 Apr 2012
Question: what does it mean to have a low WBC 3.3/ low neutrophils absolute 1.4/ and high monocytes 15.
Platelet count is 299.
No infections or health issues.
Any reason for urgency or alarm?
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Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (16 minutes later)
Hello and thank you for your query.

It is not uncommon to have some variability in the blood counts. What is important to establish in your case is to establish a trend. This is done with a serial measurement of your CBC (every 3 to 6 months). While your counts are a bit low, I would not consider you to be at severe risk of infection.

The high monocytes could be due to recent exposure to a virus or possibly to an autoimmune process such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. These are unlikely in light of your history of good health.

This is not an urgent issue. I would recommend you obtain another CBC in a few weeks to again help us identify a trend or baseline for you. I see no cause for alarm otherwise right now - especially if the platelets and hemoglobin are normal as well.

I hope my response has been both adequate and informative for you. If you have additional concerns, I am available for your followups.

Sincerely,
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Robert Galamaga

Oncologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 2635 Questions

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Is My Blood Report Normal ?

Hello and thank you for your query.

It is not uncommon to have some variability in the blood counts. What is important to establish in your case is to establish a trend. This is done with a serial measurement of your CBC (every 3 to 6 months). While your counts are a bit low, I would not consider you to be at severe risk of infection.

The high monocytes could be due to recent exposure to a virus or possibly to an autoimmune process such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. These are unlikely in light of your history of good health.

This is not an urgent issue. I would recommend you obtain another CBC in a few weeks to again help us identify a trend or baseline for you. I see no cause for alarm otherwise right now - especially if the platelets and hemoglobin are normal as well.

I hope my response has been both adequate and informative for you. If you have additional concerns, I am available for your followups.

Sincerely,