Brief Answer: more than likely related to the sore throat Detailed Answer: HI, thanks for using healthcare magic White blood cells increase due to infection, in some cases of inflammation and trauma and in certain types of cancer (leukemia and lymphoma). In your case, with a history of a sore throat developing in the same day, the increase is likely related to the sore throat which is usually viral. Even though the symptoms of sore throat developed later in the day, the infection would have been incubating (developing and getting ready to show up as symptoms). This would have caused the increased white cell. Leukemia or lymphoma are normally associated with other symptoms such as weight loss, fatigue, loss of appetite, night sweats, in some cases pain. It is important to remember that some of these symptoms can also occur with an acute viral infection such as sore throat or the cold. In leukemia or lymphoma , other parts of the blood test would also be abnormal because the excess white cells in the bone marrow stop the bone marrow from making enough red blood cells and platelets. As a result both the platelets and the hemoglobin would be low. YOur increase white cell count is likely related to your current infection (sore throat). I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

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