Why am I having a high ESR?

Q: I am a 36 years old male weighing 64 kg. My blood report showed ESR: 110, haemoglobin (Hb): 9.90, WBC: 9.90 and RBC: 3.20. I suffered from urinary tract infection (UTI) last month (pus cell were 70-80/ hpf) and took highend antibiotics. What is the reason behind high ESR? I have got low-grade fever at night and fatigue also.

A:High ESR is a marker of infection or inflammation in the body. It should be normally below 20 mm in 1st hour. In your case, the ESR could have gone up due to urine infection but should have come down substantially after intake of appropriate antibiotics as per urine culture. High esr could mean an ongoing UTI or any other infection which may be causing this to be persistently high. Meet a physician and get evaluated including cause of your anemia and also low grade fever. Get a fresh urine culture, chest x-ray-pa, usg abdomen, mantoux test etc as per the advice of your physician.