May 26, 2012
Topics A-Z Infections Reduction in White Blood Cell Count after an acute Infection
Reduction in White Blood Cell Count after an acute Infection |
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Dear Ask The Doctor: How long does it take for a high white blood cell count to return to the normal range? The patient is on antibiotics. Dear Lisa: The normal white blood cell count is 4 - 11*109/L and it would be difficult to predict how rapidly the WCC will fall back to within the normal range after an acute infection. This depends on a number of factors including; the nature of the infection, if it is localised or systemic, if appropriate antibiotic therapy is used, if the patient has a normal functioning immune system, the age of the patient and the presence of co-morbid diseases. It is important to assess the patient as a whole, to determine clinically if there is an improvement, with the absence of fever or temperature spikes, reduction in WCC, and falling inflammatory markers such as CRP, which can often predict earlier than WCC if appropriate antibiotic therapy is being administered. |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 October 2010 ) |
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