My white blood cell count is low. What should I do?
Autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, are known to cause a low white blood cell count.
While the white blood count (WBC) is often understandably abnormal as you recover on the MP, if your WBC falls below 3.0 thousand/ul, you may be at risk for acute infection. Its important that you take precautions against acquiring an acute infection, slow down the immunopathology and recheck a WBC with differential in a few weeks. Ask on the Board if you require assistance.
A differential blood count analysis usually includes the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) which is often a better indication of the risk of developing a co-infection. If your lab does not do an ANC, you may report the details of your differential in your progress report for analysis.
If your ANC is less than 1500 cells/uL, you should follow the recommendations to dampen your immune system reaction until that count increases. If you don't know how to do this, please ask for help.
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