Reticulocyte count is a basic test in hematology. This study was done to compare manual and automated methods and to study the effect of sample storage on reticulocyte count. Analyses of samples (n = 86) were done at 2, 6, 24 and 48 h after blood collection. Manual counting was done from both freshly prepared slide and stored slide by microscopy on new methylene blue stained smears. Automated enumeration was on Sysmex XT-2000i analyser (Ret search II). The values of immature reticulocyte fraction (IRF) and low fluorescence reticulocytes (LFR) were also recorded. Comparison between two methods was done by Spearman’s correlation and Mann–Whitney test. Effect of storage was analysed by repeated measures ANOVA. There was strong positive correlation between both manual and automated methods at 2, 6, 24 and 48 h. The differences between the manual and automated methods were not significant at 2, 6 and 24 h (p 0.975, 0.967 and 0.227). The difference between the freshly prepared slide and stored slide were significant at 6, 24 and 48 h (p 0.015, 0.004 and 0.001). The change in reticulocyte count with time, decrease in IRF and increase in LFR were not significant up to 6 h but were significant at 24 and 48 h after blood collection. Both the methods were accurate and correlated well with each other. Freshly prepared smears for manual counting were better than counting on stored slide. Up to 6 h after blood collection results obtained by both methods are acceptable.

网织红细胞计数是血液学的基本测试。本研究的目的是比较手动和自动方法，并研究样品储存对网织红细胞计数的影响。在采血后 2、6、24 和 48 小时进行样本分析 (n = 86)。通过显微镜对新的亚甲蓝染色的涂片对新鲜制备的载玻片和储存的载玻片进行手动计数。在 Sysmex XT-2000i 分析仪 (Ret search II) 上进行自动计数。还记录了未成熟网织红细胞分数（IRF）和低荧光网织红细胞（LFR）的值。两种方法之间的比较通过Spearman相关性和Mann-Whitney检验进行。通过重复测量方差分析来分析储存的影响。手动方法和自动方法在 2、6、24 和 48 小时之间存在很强的正相关性。手动方法和自动方法之间的差异在 2、6 和 24 小时时不显着（ p分别为 0.975、0.967 和 0.227）。新鲜制备的载玻片和储存的载玻片之间的差异在 6、24 和 48 小时时显着（ p 0.015、0.004 和 0.001）。网织红细胞计数随时间的变化、IRF 的降低和 LFR 的增加在 6 小时内不显着，但在采血后 24 小时和 48 小时显着。这两种方法都很准确并且相互之间具有良好的相关性。用于手动计数的新鲜制备的涂片比在储存的载玻片上计数更好。采血后最多 6 小时，两种方法获得的结果都是可接受的。