Clinical Laboratory Hematology 3rd Edition by Shirlyn McKenzie, Lynne Williams

Exercise 16

Stephen, a 28-year-old Caucasian male of Italian descent, became progressively ill following a safari vacation to West Africa. The patient arrived at the emergency room (ER) for evaluation following several days of fever, chills, and malaise. The advent of hemoglobinuria prompted the patient to seek emergency aid. A clinical history and physical examination supported a diagnosis of anemia. Because Stephen had recently returned from a malarial endemic area, the physician first suspected malaria although the patient had been on primaquine preventive drug therapy while traveling abroad. Blood smears examined for malaria, however, resulted in a negative diagnosis.
Consider what additional laboratory tests could help identify the cause of Stephen's anemia.
In addition to malaria screening, the ER physician also ordered a CBC with the following results:
Predict Stephen's reticulocyte count: low, normal, or increased.