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10 Year Old, Losing Weight. Low Wbc, Having Viral Infection. Any Ideas?
My 10 year old granddaughter has lost 8 lbs over the past few months while growing a little over 3 inches. Today she has blood test as her pediatrician is concerned, and her white blood cell count is dangerously low. She does have a viral infection a the present time but that wouldn't account for the weight loss. Otherwise no symptoms. Any ideas?
Tue, 22 Oct 2013
Hi,
Thank you for asking question on health care magic
Losing 8lbs within few months, viral infection in girl of 10 years suggests that it may be tuberculosis infection. But low white cell count is alarming.
Hence you have to exclude malignancy like ALL
it requires thorough investigation and expert consultation
Hope this answer will serve your purpose
Please feel free to ask any more queries.
Take care
Dr.M.V.Subrahmanyam MD;DCH
Associate professor of pediatrics
Thank you for asking question on health care magic
Losing 8lbs within few months, viral infection in girl of 10 years suggests that it may be tuberculosis infection. But low white cell count is alarming.
Hence you have to exclude malignancy like ALL
it requires thorough investigation and expert consultation
Hope this answer will serve your purpose
Please feel free to ask any more queries.
Take care
Dr.M.V.Subrahmanyam MD;DCH
Associate professor of pediatrics
I find this answer helpful
1 user finds this helpful
Hi,
Thanks for writing to health care magic.
I can understand your concern.
There could be several causes for weight loss in children.
One is inadequate low calorie diet. Check if your child is receiving adequate diet or not.
Another cause could be chronic infections like tuberculosis. Investigations like mantoux etc are required to confirm the diagnosis.
A physical examination will give a clue to the cause and your child should be further investigated depending on physical examination findings.
Continue to ask further queries as required.
Hope this helps.
Take care.
Dr Y V Siva Sankara Murty
M.D.(Pediatrics)
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Thanks for writing to health care magic.
I can understand your concern.
There could be several causes for weight loss in children.
One is inadequate low calorie diet. Check if your child is receiving adequate diet or not.
Another cause could be chronic infections like tuberculosis. Investigations like mantoux etc are required to confirm the diagnosis.
A physical examination will give a clue to the cause and your child should be further investigated depending on physical examination findings.
Continue to ask further queries as required.
Hope this helps.
Take care.
Dr Y V Siva Sankara Murty
M.D.(Pediatrics)
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
I find this answer helpful
2 Doctors agree with this answer
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