Why does my brother have low platelet count?

Q: My 40 years old diabetic brother is suffering from fever and headache. His CBC was done and it showed platelet count 46,000. Please advise.

A:Low platelet with fever has many causes. First of all you should try to get the cause of fever if any major sepsis (especially in view of diabetes mellitus). Then a complete CBC with PBF should be done as part of initial workup for fever. If PBF does not shows any abnormal cells (immature cells) and no other cause of low platelet present, one should consider bone marrow examination if platelet counts going persistently down.