I recently had viral gastroenteritis and discovered that my white blood cell count was low at 2.7 then rechecked at 2.2 . COuld it be something serious like leukemia or lupus or does it take a while for the wbc count to go back up after an viral infection. Please help very nervous
Hello and welcome to HCM, Viral infections suppress the bone marrow cells temporarily. Platelets are commonly reduced in viral infections. The lymphocytes are raised in cases of viral infections. The white cell count is seldom decreased however, prolonged infection can cause that. Get the test again after a couple of days. As the infection clears away over period of time, the white blood cell count will come back to normal.
Thanks an dtake care Dr Shailja P Wahal
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What Does Low White Blood Cell Count Indicate?
Hello and welcome to HCM, Viral infections suppress the bone marrow cells temporarily. Platelets are commonly reduced in viral infections. The lymphocytes are raised in cases of viral infections. The white cell count is seldom decreased however, prolonged infection can cause that. Get the test again after a couple of days. As the infection clears away over period of time, the white blood cell count will come back to normal. Thanks an dtake care Dr Shailja P Wahal