Question
Suddenly, the baby had diarrhea over 20 times a day and was taken to the hospital where the white blood cell count was found to be as high as 19,000. After five days of intravenous fluids, the count dropped to 15,000 but the diarrhea continued at over 20 times a day. During the five days of fluids, the baby only had a high fever once. The doctor said to wait for the white blood cells to drop before stopping the diarrhea. I thought it was not good enough to keep vomiting like this, so I changed hospitals and after two days of intravenous fluids, the diarrhea stopped. After not having diarrhea, I continued to receive fluids for three more days before stopping them. Four days later, the baby started having a high fever of 39.2°C again and was given fluids; after feeling better for a day, the fever returned again. This happened repeatedly with a fever almost every other day. When I went to the hospital, the white blood cell count was still at 15,000 and the doctor told me to continue with fluids. I felt there wasn’t much effect and switched the baby to traditional Chinese medicine. The doctor prescribed three days of traditional Chinese medicine, which were taken for two days and still had a high fever. What’s going on? Previous treatment situation and effects: I had taken the baby for a thorough check-up at another hospital before, where the white blood cell count was 14,000 and after three days of fluids, everything was fine. What kind of help do I need: How can I get the white blood cell count down? Should I give my baby intravenous fluids or take traditional Chinese medicine?
Answer
Dear friend, based on your description, it is considered that there may be a mixed infection of viral and bacterial infections. The baby has diarrhea, which may be due to pediatric enteritis caused by viral infection. The course of the disease is 7 days; it is not recommended to use antidiarrheal medications during this time. That’s why you mentioned that the hospital treatment improved on the third day; you should have seen similar improvement if you hadn’t changed hospitals. However, since the baby’s blood count is high, it suggests a mixed bacterial infection. High blood counts can lead to recurrent episodes of fever. It is suggested to proceed with systemic anti-inflammatory treatment.