Hellow,

I have a quick question....Lets say if someone was experiencing a flu (possibly ars) and his cbc showed wbc - 4000 (Lower Normal) and Total Lymphocytes - 40 (Higher Normal) Wouldn't this be highly unlikely to be ars (and most likely be a viral)as Total lymphs normally go down or are atleast near the normal limits. God Bless you and the work you do.:)

Dear :)

"Hellow" to you too. A CBC cannot and should not be used to diagnose or rule out ARS. Associations can be misleading. Example:

1. Birds fly south in the fall and then it snows in the winter. So by association we would assume that birds cause winter snowfall. - Right? Of course not! 2. All very fat people who eat at McDonalds, whether they have Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, or McNuggets, always, always, always order a diet coke. Therefore by association: Diet coke causes obesity.

See what I mean? Don't trust CBC results to give you information about HIV ARS. The HIV test is the only thing that can do that for you, OK?

Would you like fries with that, sir?

Stay well.

Dr. Bob