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What can cause a low neutrophil count besides blood cancer?

This Premium Q&A, reviewed and published, features a real conversation between an iCliniq user and a physician.

Patient's Query

Hello doctor,

I am a 32-year-old woman who had a cesarean section 2.5 months ago and have been experiencing anxiety issues recently. My general physician requested a blood profile test, and I am concerned about the same. Since the tests were done two weeks prior and now have substantial variations. Two weeks prior, my blood profile was WBC 3200 per microliter of blood, neutrophils 1800 per microliter of blood, and lymphocytes 800 per microliter of blood. But the recent blood test shows WBC 3300 per microliter of blood, and neutrophils 1500 per microliter of blood. I doubt it would be leukemia or blood cancer since the neutrophil count has reduced tremendously over a week. Kindly help me through the same.

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

I am a hematologist with 20 years of experience, and I have gone through your data, and your laboratory results are not in a critical range. There is no conclusive evidence of leukemia or any other malignancy. It may be a viral infection. I suggest you go for a complete blood count (CBC) after a couple of months. In the meantime, monitor your temperature and get a CBC done since low white blood cells (WBCs) are associated with recurrent infections and febrile episodes.

Patient's Query

Hi doctor, Thank you for the reply. I guess the low neutrophil count made me anxious. Is it possible that I am deficient in vitamins due to pregnancy, post partum anxiety, and difficulty breastfeeding. So should I get my vitamins checked? I also think, I would have had an asymptomatic episode of COVID and let me know if neutrophils stay low for two weeks post virus? Thank you again for all your help.

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

Most viral infections have mild or no symptoms. Mild symptoms may be tiredness, low-grade fever, headache, and muscular pains of short duration.

Regarding your query, neutrophils might stay low for many weeks or months.

Also, females frequently get deficient in vitamins and minerals due to cyclical bleeding and hormonal imbalance in pregnancy, lactation, and menstruation. Therefore, instead of checking vitamins, I suggest you take vitamin supplements like vitamin B12, Folic Acid, pyridoxine, vitamin D, iron, zinc, calcium, and phosphate after consultation with your pharmacist or doctor.

Medically reviewed byiCliniq medical review team
Published At October 20, 2022
Reviewed AtAugust 3, 2023

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