Specialist can help with child’s blood disorder

My 1-year-old has neutropenia, and his neutrophil count is very low (310). He often gets infections, and his neutrophil count goes even lower when he’s on antibiotics. What are our options at this point to get him healthy?

Neutropenia is a condition in which a person has too few neutrophils. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that helps the body fight infections, particularly infections caused by bacteria. People who have neutropenia are at high risk for multiple infections. In infants and toddlers with neutropenia, those infections often affect the ears, mouth, lungs, sinuses, throat and urinary tract.

To manage neutropenia appropriately, it’s important to know the cause. Various diseases and conditions can lead to neutropenia. Make an appointment for your child to have further evaluation by a pediatric hematologist — a health care provider who specializes in blood disorders in children — to find the reason for his neutropenia. The specialist will be able to help you decide on the most appropriate treatment.

If your son is diagnosed with severe chronic neutro- penia, there is an international registry available for people with the disorder. If he’s accepted to and enrolled on the registry, he may be able to receive granulocyte colony-stimulating factor treatment free of charge. Find more information, visit the Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry.

By gathering more information about your son’s condition — especially the cause — you’ll be better equipped to make an in- formed decision about the best way to move forward.