Causes

By Mayo Clinic Staff

White blood cells are manufactured in bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside some of your larger bones. A low white blood cell count usually is caused by:

  1. Viral infections that temporarily disrupt the work of bone marrow
  2. Certain disorders present at birth (congenital) that involve diminished bone marrow function
  3. Cancer or other diseases that damage bone marrow
  4. Autoimmune disorders that destroy white blood cells or bone marrow cells
  5. Severe infections that use up white blood cells faster than they can be produced
  6. Medications, such as antibiotics, that destroy white blood cells
  7. Sarcoidosis (collections of inflammatory cells in the body)

Specific causes of a low white blood cell count include:

  1. Aplastic anemia
  2. Chemotherapy
  3. HIV/AIDS
  4. Hypersplenism (an abnormality of the spleen causing blood cell destruction)
  5. Kostmann's syndrome (a congenital disorder involving low production of neutrophils)
  6. Leukemia
  7. Lupus
  8. Malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies
  9. Myelodysplastic syndromes
  10. Myelokathexis (a congenital disorder involving failure of neutrophils to enter the bloodstream)
  11. Radiation therapy
  12. Rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune disorders
  13. Tuberculosis (and other infectious diseases)

Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.

Get the latest health advice from Mayo Clinic delivered to your inbox.

Sign up for free, and stay up-to-date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expert advice on managing your health.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information and to understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your e-mail and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic Patient, this could include Protected Health Information (PHI). If we combine this information with your PHI, we will treat all of that information as PHI, and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of e-mail communications at any time by clicking on the Unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Nov. 24, 2020

See also

  1. Pediatric white blood cell disorders