Neutropenia

What is neutropenia?

You may have heard of the terms 'neutropenia' or  'being neutropenic'. Neutropenia is a condition that can occur as a result of tumours affecting the bone marrow, certain types of leukaemia or during or after chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment.

Neutrophils are white blood cells that make up part of our blood. They help our bodies to fight infection.

When you have too few neutrophils this means our bodies are more susceptible to picking up infection or less effective at killing off bacteria that causes infection. This condition is known as 'neutropenia'.

Keeping yourself safe

Food-borne infection is an example of an infection your body may have difficulty dealing with if you have neutropenia. It is therefore important to follow good food hygiene practices and also advice on food safety to minimise your risk of getting a food-borne infection.

The British Dietetic Association have recently updated their guidance on safer eating with neutropenia. You can view this by clicking here or download the leaflet by clicking below.

The Food Standards Agency also has useful information on food safety and hygiene which you can visit by clicking below.