A friend of mine has been warded in the hospital for an infection. It was very hard to eradicate that infection, and they apparently had to give her antibiotics for many days before her fever finally came down. It was found that her red blood cells were low. Can infections cause anaemia? I thought they only affected the white blood cells.
Yes, infections can cause anaemia in many ways.
Infections can lead to inflammation of your body or parts of it, thanks to your body’s immune response.
Then your body releases factors that can block iron utilisation.
Once you cannot process iron, you can get anaemia.
Some attacking microorganisms like parasites (like the one that causes malaria) or toxins released by some bacteria (e.g E. coli) can directly attack red blood cells.
Infections can also affect your body’s absorption of iron and other nutrients,
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