Monocyte %high, abs mc low, how does that work? i understand the dif concepts, but that doesn't make sense, can someone explain?

Total WBCs low: Let say that your total white blood cell count was quite low, but of those few cells present, most of them are monocytes, thus the % of monocytes of the total wbcs would be high. However, since you don't have many wbcs to begin with, your absolute monocyte number would be abnormally low (a high % of a really low number is still too low).

A fine answer .....: To this question has been provided by dr. Deide. If ones total WBC count is low, the absolute number of any lineage can be low even if its relative percentage is higher than expected. We see this frequently during marrow recovery following myelosuppressive chemotherapy, where there is a relative monocytosis but often a low absolute monocytes count early on. A large % of a low number is still low.