Expert: Neha Dahiya MD - 6/3/2009

Question
My daughter was sick a month ago and the doctor did blood work. her counts were off they wanted do redo them in a month. I just got them done and her wbc is 14.6. she is 17 yrs old. last year on her yearly exam they did blood work and her white blood count was 13.4 why is it high. for the past year she has been complaining of pain in her left side just below her rib cage. Her doctor says nothing is there so do not worry about it. The only explaination about her wbc is the its JUST high. Should I worry

Answer
Hello Shelby:

As the doctor says she may just have this as her normal level. The ranges for these tests are an average of values from a given set of normal population. There are always people who fall outside this range.

In addition this could be a physiological rise and is temporary...due to stress, physical exercise--walk around the block / climbing stairs etc just before the test.

If she is otherwise healthy and has no unusual symptoms, I think you need not worry.