doctors often count the amount of lymphocytes in a person's blood to see...

Elevation of Lymphocyte levels generally indicates a viral infection. So, it could be useful if the doctor is attempting to diagnose you. But it is just ONE test out of SEVERAL, and wouldn't be depended upon as the sole clinical indicator of a particular disease process. The EXCEPTION would be if the Lymphocytes were extremely shifted, along with a very high increase in white count, which MIGHT POSSIBLY indicate Leukemia. But, again, it's just one test out of many. Lymphocytosis by itself can not diagnose any disease. It can only be a clue.
 
It isn't, and doctors don't. A lymphocytosis slightly suggests a viral etiology and a granulocytosis a bacterial one, in certain clinical situations, but the correlation is so weak that a doctor would have to be a fool to place much taith in such a thin thread.
 
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