But if you have certain illnesses like HIV or cancer, your white blood cell count can drop to very low levels. It can also drop if you are on medicine that weakens your immune system. This includes medicines such as chemotherapy.
This test measures the total count of all types of white blood cells. It does not measure the levels of each type of white blood cells. You may need this test to find out if you have an infection or illness. If your immune system is weakened by medicine or illness, you may also need this test to see if your white blood cell count is too low.
If it is, even a simple infection could be very harmful to your body. Differential WBC count. This blood test measures the amount of each type of white blood cell. Complete blood count CBC. This measures all of the major blood cells, including white blood cells. Neutrophil test. This may be done to check for neutropenia. If you have neutropenia, it means your neutrophil count is low and you can easily get an infection.
Bacterial and viral cultures. Your healthcare provider may also send samples of your blood, urine, sputum, and cerebral spinal fluid CSF to the lab to check for bacteria and viruses. Imaging tests. If your healthcare provider thinks you may have a type of blood cancer, you may need a biopsy to help figure out the cause of your abnormal WBC values.
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Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Overall, the most common cause for a high white blood cell count is response to infection. Another potential cause of an elevated white blood cell count is leukemia. This is effectively a cancerous change of the blood and bone marrow which causes significant overproduction of white blood cells.
As the lungs and airways become more inflamed, the body creates more white blood cells in response. Raised white blood cell count is itself asymptomatic and therefore any associated features, if present, will typically be associated with the underlying cause. For example, a leukocytosis caused by leukemia may be accompanied by fatigue, general malaise and easy bruising.
There are no symptoms that can reliably indicate the presence of a raised white cell count. Doctors will usually consider carrying out an investigation to include the blood count if the symptoms described by a patient suggest that a blood count could be helpful to make a diagnosis.
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