How to diagnose anemia in children’s blood routine test?

People often suffer from anemia in our daily life. Normally, young and strong men rarely suffer from anemia, while weak people are most likely to suffer from anemia, especially women who often lose blood due to menstruation, so they are more likely to suffer from anemia. In fact, the causes of anemia are very complicated. An important measure to check whether you have anemia is to do a routine blood test. The routine blood test list can roughly determine whether you have anemia.

How to diagnose anemia in children’s blood routine test?

When the baby is young, his resistance is very weak, and he needs to go to the hospital frequently for some examinations, especially routine blood tests, electrocardiograms and other tests. Reading test reports has become an essential skill for parents. Parents need to understand the baby’s health status and whether he has any disease based on the test reports. So how do you check for anemia in a baby’s routine blood test report?

1|When a baby is born, the proportion of neutrophils is relatively high, accounting for 60-65%, and lymphocytes account for about 30-35%. Lymphocytes and neutrophils are approximately equal, and the curves cross for the first time. Thereafter, lymphocytes are dominant throughout infancy, accounting for about 60%, and neutrophils account for about 30%. The number of neutrophils gradually increases before school age, and the two are approximately equal again at the age of 4-6, forming a second crossover. After the age of 6, the number of neutrophils continues to increase and the number of lymphocytes decreases, gradually reaching adult values, with granulocytes accounting for about 65%. The levels of eosinophils, alkaliphils and monocytes are relatively low in infants and young children, with little difference at different ages. Eosinophils account for about 2%-3%, alkaliphils account for 0.5%, and monocytes account for about 5% in infants and children.

2|Bacterial infection is usually manifested by a significant increase in the total white blood cell count and the absolute value and percentage of neutrophils. However, in the case of complex, chronic, recurrent diseases (such as asthma, allergic cough, allergic bowel disease, etc.) and severe infections, the above values ​​must be judged with caution, because the changes in these values ​​are affected by both infectious and non-infectious factors. For example, severe bacterial infection may also result in a significant decrease in the total white blood cell count.

3|In case of viral infection: the white blood cell count may be normal or significantly decreased, and the proportion of lymphocytes in cell classification increases. However, in case of certain special viral infections, such as Epstein-Barr virus, the total white blood cell count may also increase significantly.

4| Misunderstandings about pediatric blood routine tests: In places where there are no specialist pediatricians, children's test values ​​may be judged based on the normal values ​​of total white blood cell count and classification in adults.

5| Platelets: Platelet count fluctuates greatly in the neonatal period. The number is relatively low within 48 hours after birth, about 150×10^9/L, and can reach 300×10^9/L after two weeks. Postnatal thrombocytopenia may be related to birth trauma. The platelet count at 6 months after birth is the same as that of adults, approximately (150-350)×10^9/L.