LOW WBC'S

[lorraine]

My 43-yo husband was diagnosed with Hep C last year.  He is currently in the 9th month of a 12 mo. regimen of combo therapy. His liver biopsy showed cirrhosis.  His last viral load was at an undetectable level.  Since the beginning of therapy, however, his INF dosage has been halved, and then cut from 3X's a week to 2X's a week because his white blood cells are so low (1.3, would like to see them come up to at least 2.0).  Other than that, he is tolerating the therapy really well with virtually no debilitating side effects, save for a little fatigue.  He works 40+ hours a week and travels for business at least once a month.  The dr. is very concerned about my husband acquiring an infection and has instructed him to go immediately to an emergency room, should he note symptoms (chills, fever).  My question is: other than scrupulous hygiene, particularly when injecting, is there anything else he can do to avoid infection and is there any other way to bring the wbc's back up other than cutting back on or discontinuing INF therapy?