Low white blood cell count in 6yr old

[Wentworth]

Hello there, I'm new here. I was wondering if anyone would be able to shed any light on my 6yr old, she has been off colour for a good few months now, and complains of a tummy ache, sometimes very severe, she is in agony. About 2yrs ago she had a full blood count done and the result was low white blood cells, they repeated the test after a few weeks and it was back up, they think she had glandular fever but I was told there was no specific test for this (she was 3yrs at the time) She was refered for another blood test on Monday gone for full blood count and again it's come back with the white cell count low, they want to repeat it in 4weeks time. She has been ill since the weekend with a temperature of around 38.5 that we can't shift, we've been and seen the nurse at our Dr's surgery and there's no sign of infection in chest, urine or throat, I'm going to take her back and demand to see a Dr tomorrow (Friday) if there is no improvement as I can't believe she's had such a high temperature for so long (anyone else had this?) Not sure what else I can expect to be done though?

Thanks
V

It does sound viral if no obvious bacterial focus of infection and this sort of low grade fever that hangs around usually indicates a viral rather than bacterial cause-do you know what her other blood results showed-ie neutrophil count.Hb/platelets/lymphocytes as this can have a bearing on what the underlying problem is...you can certainly test for EBV (virus that causes glandular fever). Not sure re tummy ache and whether connected or not...would probably be asking for immune system check out if I were you just to see if there is underlying cause. Are you giving her ibuprofen for the temp as this can cause abdo pain/gastritis if not given with food.
HTH

Hi there,
Thank you for your reply,
Yes I am giving ibruprofen alternately with calpol but she is eating well, and I always make sure she has something with it, the stomache aches have been going on for months if not years and this is why I finally managed to get another set of bloods done, I don't know the specific results (only got them over the phone) I was told that liver funcion was normal and something else I can't remember the name of was high indicating she is fighting something, obv this virus hence the 4 week wait to repeat them as hopefully this virus will have gone and hopefully they'll be truer. What is an imune system check out? Would you go back to the GP with her, or sit it out over the weekend?

Well you generally get a high white cell count as an indication of fighting an infection but I would hazard a guess its her neutrophil count which is high or possibly her lymphocytes but tbh I would then expect her total WCC to be high so doesnt really make sense.
To check out her immune system would not be an urgent thing but may be something you want to discuss with your GP if she has had ongoing problems...I would imagine they checked her liver function in view of the abdo pain...abdo pain in kids can have a multitude of causes but often urine infection or constipation but I guess they have ruled those out..
An immune system check would involve looking at her blood to look at all the cells involved in a healthy immune system and checking they are all working ok.
HTH

Does she need the paracetemol/ibuprofen for pain or are you giving it just for the temp? It may sort itself out quicker if you just let the fever run its course without interfering.

Tbh bubbleymummy, it makes absolutely no difference in terms of length/severity of infection or fever severity if you give calpol or not so I wd advise to give just to stop children feeling rubbish with a high temp. Fevers are a symptom of infection...all you are doing by giving calpol is treating the symptom not the underlying cause.

Thank you everyone,

I'm mainly giving the medicines for the temperature as she feels rough with the temperature, she does seem to be developing a "cold" (sneezing etc) this eve and has said that it hurts now when she goes for a wee, so will be taking her back to the Dr's tomorrow, also I am worried about convulsions if the temperature goes higher, especially at night as I wouldn't know she'd had one, and even having had nurofen at bedtime she is waking up with a temp of 39+ (has never gone about 39.5)and the room is cold overnight (was 14.6 this morning!)I will see if I can find out the exact blood test results tomorrow if I can get her in, and ask the Dr to explain them to me.

Yes, oddgirl, if the fever itself is causing discomfort then of course it should be treated but, as indicated in the NICE guidelines, antipyretics should not be given with the sole purpose of bringing down a fever. The fever plays an important role in helping the body to fight the illness so suppressing it unnecessarily interferes with that. .
Wentworth, the height of the temperature does not cause febrile convulsions. It is the speed at which the temperature rises. Research has shown that antipyretics do not prevent convulsions. I hope the doctor can shed some light on it and that your daughter feels better soon.

All of her WCC is low, the whole lot, something was at 0 and again for the life of me I can't remember what, my GP wants to repeat the bloods on Mon unless she improves drastically by then, if she gets worse she wants me to ring the emergency Drs (as its a wknd) and get her seen by a Peadeatrician, she said the longest a temp should be up is 5 days with upper respiratory tract infection, but she has no found infections, so she is concerned and again wants to see her on Mon if no better/worse, so I guess its a waiting game now to see if she improves over the weekend, and if not the outcome of the next set of bloods.

Thank you ever so much for all of your replies, I'll let you know how we get on

we had a this a few months back with DD2 and she was poorly for a while and ended up in A&E. They never got to the bottom of it all tbh, but after a few months she picked up and GP thinks it was viral or CFS.

Hi Lisa,
I'm glad your DD has improved, I'm more worried as it's the second time it's happened to her I suppose, her temp has now stabilised thank goodness, but she is still lethargic, so we're off for the blood tests in a minute

how did it go?

Dr's surgery has rung this afternoon and my GP wants to chat with me about it, but the receptioninst couldn't get a call back for me until Fri (I know my GP wasn't there yesterday or this afternoon) I'm hoping it's nothing serious, I did manage to get that the white blood cell count is now 5.1 instead of 1.3 so that's great, but the receptionist also said some things were raised, wouldn't say what though, said I had to wait and chat with the GP, so will just have to be patient now and wait for Friday!!

Thank you for asking

hopefully nothing, but do keep us updated. Children love to test us but GP seem to test us more!

Hi there it's my first time on here. I came across your post when I was looking for info on the same thing. I have a 6yr old with similar symptoms, temp, stomach pains, she also has head aches. GP sent for blood tests and they came back today with low white blood cell count and low Lymphocytes. The GP wants to repeat the test in 6 weeks but she looks so ill and the temp just doesn't seem to be lifting(only with calpol). She is really thin anyway and now looks like she has lost more weight. The GP couldn't find any reason for the temp which makes me even more worried as its coming up to a week now. I have noticed over the last few weeks she has been slowly wearing down and has had to have antibiotics twice for throat and ear infections. Any advice or info anyone?

get a referal to pead imo

Hi wentworth
Hope your dd is okay. Hope the doc appointment goes well

I have been watching this thread with interest. How did you get on op?
My daughter had very similar symptoms
and bloods. Eventually diagnosed with a uti after 3 months!!! All her urine samples came back with mixed growth and gp never wanted to repeat them. Luckily I am in the medical proffesion and just kept sending offnnurine until we got an uncontaminated sample which proved a uti. Treated and no more temps.

Hi there,

The Dr doesn't seem worried, it was so annoying as I was out when she called so she rang on my mobile but I kept losing signal, in the end she left me a voicemail saying her wbcc was back within the normal range, the thing that was raised should be raised if an infection is being fought. She thinks the stomache pains are stomache migraines and to bring her back if they get too much again, she wasn't worried about the temp as it was down (although she felt warm this morning thermometer only read 37 though which is slightly warm for her) she said she felt cold and not well, but couldn't be more specific, I've sent her to school and they're keeping an eye on her. I've got another Dr ringing me back tomorrow though as I obviously didn't get to ask any questions, like does she still need the blood test we've got booked for inbetween Christmas and New Year and what on Earth could be making this happen? I want to know! The Dr mentioned glandular fever again in her message, but I thought you were only supposed to get that once?? If that's right then one of the times it can't have been that, and therefore probably neither of the times!! Also I think her wbcc drops every times she's ill but we don't know as she doesn't have the bloods done everytime (and I don't want her to have too either!) but I do want to know what it is as she is going to be more likely to catch other viruses/infections while her count is low which could end up getting worse as she can't fight them.

lisad123isasnuttyasaboxoffrogs Yes I am going to ask if I can have a referal

edwardsl27 I hope your DD is ok, on doing some research online into this I have read that antibiotics can lower your white cell count, I would just keep taking her back if the temp doesn't come down my GP said 5 days is nothing to worry about! much longer than that without a known reason is something that they would start to be concerned about my DD's lasted about 8 days in the end although only really high for about the 5.

Bobbiesmum I'm glad you got to the bottom of your DD's temp, my DD urine samples keep coming back clear so I don't think it is that, but thank goodness you work where you do!!!

I will let you all know how I get on tomorrow (it's a different GP as mine isn't in again until Fri!!)

Thank you to everyone who's posted and thought about us

Glad you are getting somewhere. I'm sure your gp will say this but the White cell count is often low with viral infections and young children are viral very often!
Good luck with gp

Hi I had a blood test on Thursday morning by Thursday afternoon I received a call from my doctor to say my white cell blood count was extremely low 1.3. I have now been referred to hematology. I also have Rhemotoid arthritis and my counts are constantly up and down. But I think this is the lowest. I am very worried. I do not feel ill but am very shaky and are having cold sweats but I do not have a temperature . It's difficult because I am going through the menopause also so I'm so confused regarding all these different symptoms and what they could mean. Anyone going through the same and can advise me.
Thanks

Hi what was your result @Jjm564