Is there anything wrong with my blood report?

Q: I am 46 years old male and my recent blood report shows ESR 18 mm, monocyte 0.0, basophil 0.0. May I know what does it mean? Is there anything serious?

A:Your report is normal. The five types of white blood cells present in blood (each of which helps fight infection), namely neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes and monocytes, are expressed as a 'percentage' by doing a count on 100 white blood cells in a peripheral blood smear. This does not accurately reflect the number of cells present and thus 'absolute' counts are preferred. The absolute count is calculated by multiplying the total leukocyte count by the percentage of each cell type.The normal ranges in an adult male are:Total leukocyte count (TLC): 4,000 - 10,000/ml

DLC	Percentage	cells/ml
Neutrophils	40-60%	1,500 - 7,500
Eosinophils	0 - 8%	< 450
Basophils	0 - 1%	40 - 700
Lymphocytes	15 - 40%	1,000 - 3,500
Monocytes	2 - 12%	100 - 1000

As is evident, sometimes no monocyte, eosinophil or basophil may be seen while doing a 100-cell differential count. It is the absolute number of cells which is of clinical relevance rather than the percentage of these white cells.