Left shift or right shift in terms of infection

[NeedToStudy]

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So I've noticed that when reading about bacterial infections it will occasionally mention in parenthesis whether it is right shift or left shift. What does this mean exactly?

 

[animando]

precursors -> band neutrophil -> segmented neutrophil

On a blood smear, if you see more band neutrophils than usual (>10% of total), it means the bone marrow is producing more cells (usual response to an infection).
A right shift would mean an increase in number of segmented neutrophils (bone marrow insufficiency).

 

[NeedToStudy]

precursors -> band neutrophil -> segmented neutrophil

On a blood smear, if you see more band neutrophils than usual (>10% of total), it means the bone marrow is producing more cells (usual response to an infection).
A right shift would mean an increase in number of segmented neutrophils (bone marrow insufficiency).

Wow thanks! Your simple explanation really helped me!