How to Determine Influenza from a Complete Blood Count (CBC)
Disease description:
I know that blood routine indicators can only show whether there are symptoms such as inflammation or anemia. How can a blood routine test determine the flu?
Doctor's answer (1)
Dr. Liu Feng
Blood routine examination is one of the important methods for initially determining whether a patient may have influenza, but blood routine results alone cannot serve as the sole basis for diagnosing influenza. Main indicators to focus on include:
1. White blood cell count: During influenza virus infection, the white blood cell count is usually normal or decreased, which differs from the increase typically seen during bacterial infections.
2. Neutrophils: The count and proportion of neutrophils in patients with influenza often decrease, which is a typical manifestation of influenza virus infection.
3. Lymphocytes: During influenza virus infection, the proportion of lymphocytes usually increases, a finding similar to that seen in other viral infections.
These changes observed in blood routine tests are not unique to influenza; many other infectious diseases can also present with similar changes. Therefore, in clinical diagnosis, doctors will make a comprehensive assessment based on the patient's epidemiological history, clinical symptoms (such as high fever, body aches, fatigue), physical signs, and laboratory tests (including blood routine and influenza virus nucleic acid testing).
