Q: What other diagnosis, besides leukaemia, is associated with an elevated white blood cell count and decreased platelets/?

A:These values have to be correlated with the age of the patient, his/her history and clinical profile to give a meaningful differential diagnosis. However, some of the conditions that come to mind include:

• Infections: Hepatitis, CMV, TB, fungal disease, parasites etc
• Sepsis
• TTP and related states
• Acute inflammatory states (Auto-immune, drugs, poisonings, toxins etc)
• Myelodysplastic syndrome
• Acute leukaemia
• Chronic leukaemia
• Myeloproliferative disorders
• Lymphomas
• Metastatic tumours