I have always had Low Neutrophil, my doctor says its because my body is constantly fighting with Hep B.
Do other people on this board also have low neutrophil ?
Yes, same here, always. I will say though, since I’ve been on antivirals now for 9 years my neutrophils are still on the low end but do not fall into the low/abnormal range any longer. Before antivirals my HBV DNA was always on the low end also, so who knows. I too was told by a hematologist that it was the HBV causing constant stress. The hematologist also said some just have low neutrophils and as long as I wasn’t regularly sick and fighting infections, that the low neutrophils on its own wasn’t clinically significant. I hope this helps.
My daughter’s neutrophils have always been low - countered by high lymphocytes. Since being on an antiviral which has lowered her viral low, she is not in the normal range - though still low.
hello, I have been wondering about this myself for years but no answer. I had asked my hep b specialist and he told me not to worry about it. I have chronic hep b and have been on antiviral med for about 21 years. I’ve been taking vemlidy for many years since it hit the market. I think there must be a correlation between low neutrophil and chronic hep b or/and low neutrophils and antiviral medication. I am not exactly sure which one.
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Dear all,
There is quite a bit of interest around this topic and would love some @HealthExperts or immunology experts (@nina.le.bert @Gregory @ateekhakpoor @mat ) to chime in. In the meantime, there are great resources out there including from Australian Clinical Labs (Understanding neutropenia in general practice - Australian Clinical Labs). Just to quote a few important parts:
Benign ethnic neutropenia
Benign ethnic neutropenia (BEN) is a condition observed in individuals of African descent and is characterised by a reduced absolute neutrophil count of less than 1.50 X 10^9/l in the absence of secondary causes. In contrast to other causes of neutropenia, BEN does not increase risk of oral or systemic infections.
Mild neutropenia (a neutrophil count ranging from 1.0 – 1.5 X 10^9/l) is a common laboratory abnormality. Usually not associated with any impairment of host defence, the cause for the mild abnormality does warrant further investigation. Common causes for transient neutropenia include viral infections such as Epstein-Barr virus infection. In children, chronic (> 3 months) mild neutropenia may be secondary to chronic autoimmune neutropenia of childhood which resolves spontaneously by 3–5 years of age and may last for a median of 17 months. Chronic mild neutropenia in adults may also be secondary to mild autoimmune disorders. Patients with mild autoimmune neutropenia generally do not have an increased incidence of infection and may respond to infection with an increase in the neutrophil count.
Hope this helps,
Thomas