Following chemotherapy, why might a patient exhibit increased susceptibility to infection despite a recovering white blood cell count?

💡 Explanation

Chemotherapy can induce aplastic anemia, leading to a diminished variety of immune cells. Because the bone marrow is affected, the recovering white blood cells may lack the necessary diversity to effectively combat a wide range of pathogens. Therefore, increased infection susceptibility occurs rather than robust immunity, despite a recovering cell count.

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