Questions

  1. At what level should a child’s white blood cells and neutrophils be elevated in a routine blood test before antibiotics are needed? Please provide a reference value.
  2. My baby has already used several cephalosporin drugs (including oral and intravenous injections). Do I have to use cephalosporin antibiotics in the future?
  3. Why does the hospital almost always prescribe cefaclor for my baby, who is only 11 months old? If the white blood cell count increases during a fever, will I need to use cephalosporin antibiotics in the future?

Answers

The number of white blood cells is not the sole criterion for determining whether to use antibiotics. White blood cells help absorb foreign bodies and produce antibodies, playing an important role in the body’s self-healing process by resisting the invasion of natural pathogens and in autoimmune responses to diseases. Therefore, during inflammation, white blood cell counts may decrease. However, if the body’s immune system is very poor and does not respond to pathogen invasion, white blood cell counts may not increase even when inflammation is severe. Cephalosporin antibiotics are currently the first choice for treating bacterial infections, with cefaclor and cefixime being the most commonly used. However, whether to use cephalosporin antibiotics when white blood cell counts increase during a fever is not definite; other types of antibiotics can also be used.