What does it mean if you have a high protein count in your blood?

What does a high white blood cell count mean?

• My son is 12 months old, and today had to do a routine lead test, and they also did a blood count test. The doctor called a little later and said they want me to come back in two days to have him tested again because his white blood cell count was at 17000. What does this mean? Thanks!

• Answer:

  As one of the previous posters noted, white blood cells are the "warriors" of your body. A WBC (White Blood Cell) count of 17,000 is elevated but, young babies and toddlers can run slighlty higher than a normal adult,so at this stage, don't freak out. Remember, simply getting the blood sample on a young child is stressful and could cause an elevation. Was this a venous stick or collected from his finger? Fingersticks can show a slight elevation as a result of the phelobotmy (blood collection). Also, your son's immune system is "learning" how to fight the everyday bacteria we are exposed to in our daily lives - it is possilbe that he is fighting an exposuer. Your doctor wants to monitor your son - his body could be fighting some sort of infection or there could be something else brewing (ie: Chronic appendix, teething, an ear infection etc). Ask what type of WBC is elevated - a "Differential" or "Diff" will give the relative % and absolute counts of the different types of WBCs. There are five major types of white cells in the body - the first two, the neuts and the lymphs are the most prevalent and generally the most useful in diagnosis of routine infections. Neutrophils or neuts (typically elevated in bacterial infections and sometimes in inflammations), Lymphocytes or Lymphs (typically elevated in viral infections). Neuts usually outnumber lymphs 2:1 so if there is a shift one way or the other, you can have a good indication of what type of challenge the body is fighting. The other three types of white cells are Monocytes or Monos (which can look different under the microscope when the system is fighting chronic infections), Eosinphils or Eos (typically elevated in cases of allergies or parasitic infections) and Basophils or basos. So - in essence, an elevated WBC at this point is just an indicator of an immune challenge - ask for more info on the distribution on the cell types and then follow the doctor's advice on retesting and monitoring. Good luck! Regards, PJ (MT-ASCP) (20+years experience in laboratory technology)