Neutrophils are a kind of white blood cell which makes up the solid wall of immunity that provides your body with its immune system. A low count of neutrophils in the blood indicates a problem known as neutropenia, which is in all likelihood what your son is suffering from. When affected with neutropenia, the most typical symptom of it is lowered immunity. Neutrophils work as policemen - they guard against all manner of infections that are floating around us in the environment. So an absence of neutrophils will weaken immunity to a very large extent. It is important to know that neutropenia is not a disease in itself. It is actually a very strong symptom of another underlying disease. It can also be caused due to taking certain types of medicines and drugs. Other causes for neutropenia would include a debilitating disease such as tuberculosis, cancer or rheumatism. In some extremely rare cases, neutropenia is also inherited. However, this is relatively rare.
While it is not clear what kind of symptoms typify the problem of neutropenia, the only definite knowledge in this regard is that whatever the underlying cause for the problem, it will be the symptoms of that disease which will be exaggerated. If the child is suffering from diarrhea, then it is possible that the cause for this is the diarrhea and not anything to do with neutropenia at all. In any case, it is important for you to know that ignoring or neglecting neutropenia simply means that you are ignoring or neglecting the general health of the child. If left untreated, this can weaken your child to such an extent that he will start mimicking the symptoms of an HIV positive patient. Although this is rare, it is certainly known to happen. So you must try to treat the problem, rather than focus on the symptoms.
answered by G M