Predictive Value of White Blood Cell Count and Differential Cell Count to Bacterial Infections in Children

White blood cell counts and differential cell counts were measured prospectively during the first 24 hours of admission in 132 children aged 3 months to 13 years hospitalized with an acute infectious illness. 25 children were excluded from the study and the remaining 107 children were divided into diagnostic categories without knowledge of the white cell count. Neither the white cell count nor the differential count were predictive of the etiology of bacterial and nonbacterial infections in childhood.