Neutropenia in Pediatric Infections

Excerpt

Neutrophils play an important role in the innate immunity and account for majority of the circulating white blood cells (WBC). They are the prime responders to infections by toxin mediated killing of pathogens after phagocytosis. The half-life of neutrophils in circulation is approximately 7–12 h, and this can shorten during infective episodes due to their tissue migration. Neutropenia is often defined as the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) < 1500/cumm but ideally this should be compared to age, sex and race matched healthy populations. Appropriate reference ranges are important to diagnose a child with neutropenia. Adult values of ANC are achieved by adolescence. For white children the lower limit of the ANC is 1000/cumm below one year of age and 1500/cumm after infancy [1]. …