What to Do When White Blood Cell Count Reaches 15,000

Question

Suddenly, my baby had diarrhea 20 times a day. When we went to the hospital, the white blood cell count was as high as 19,000. After five days of intravenous fluid therapy, the count dropped to 15,000, but the baby still had diarrhea 20 times a day. During the five days of intravenous fluid therapy, the baby only had a high fever once. The doctor said to wait for the white blood cell count to drop before stopping the diarrhea. I thought it wasn’t right to keep on like this, so I changed hospitals and had another two days of intravenous fluid therapy. The diarrhea stopped after another three days of fluids. Four days later, the baby started having a high fever of 39.2°C, coming and going every other day. When we went to the hospital again, the white blood cell count was still at 15,000. The doctor advised me to continue with the intravenous fluids, but I felt there was little effect. So I changed the baby’s treatment to Chinese medicine. The doctor prescribed three days of Chinese medicine, but after two days of taking it, the baby still had a high fever. What’s going on?

Answer

Based on your description, it appears there may be a mixed viral and bacterial infection. The baby has diarrhea and is suspected to have pediatric enteritis caused by viral infection with a course of 7 days. It is not recommended to use anti-diarrheal medications during this period, so you mentioned that the hospital treatment improved on the third day, and you would have seen similar results without changing hospitals. However, since the blood count is high, there is a consideration for mixed bacterial infection. High blood counts can lead to recurrent fever spikes. It is suggested to initiate immediate anti-inflammatory treatment.