Assessment of blood eosinophil count in respiratory disease from primary care

Most physicians in general, and family physicians in particular, are familiar with certain parameters when ordering a hematological study, such as hemoglobin (including hematocrit and its features), leukocytes (including lymphocytes) and platelets. Nevertheless, there are two values that we use to overlook which are eosinophils and basophils. Specifically, eosinophils have a tendency to increase with allergic pathology. This article focuses on this type of cells, helping to interpret the values obtained and highlighting their importance in two of the most frequent respiratory pathologies in primary care: asthma and COPD. In addition to observing how the increase or normality of these parameters condition the diagnosis, phenotype and even the treatment.