blood count

blood count, laboratory test that determines the number of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and white blood cells (leukocytes) in a given volume of blood. The readings vary with sex, age, physiological state, and general health, but the blood of a normal individual contains on average 5,000,000 red cells and 7,000 white cells per cubic millimetre. A differential blood count is the percentage of each type of white blood cell per 100 white cells counted; the white cells of a normal adult are about 55 percent neutrophils, 30 percent lymphocytes, and small percentages of eosinophils, basophils, and monocytes. A decrease in the number of red blood cells is usually associated with anemia, and an increase or decrease in the number of white blood cells can occur with infections, inflammatory conditions, or leukemia. A blood count may also include a determination of the number of platelets, the volume by percent of red blood cells in whole blood (known as a hematocrit), the sedimentation rate of the red blood cells, the hemoglobin concentration of the red cells, and the average size of the red cells.