Sickle Cell Anemia Virtual Laboratory click for larger map There is a interesting thing about sickle cell anemia. People who carry the tendency to have sickle cell anemia are less likely to die from malaria. Sometimes what is bad in one situation helps out in another.
Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that likes to set up housekeeping in the red cells.
This parasite is carried by the Anopheles mosquito. There are four kinds of malaria, but only one of them is potentially fatal. Cells that sickle make a poor home for this parasite. The body can eliminate it before the parasite spreads too widely, before the person gets seriously ill. Malaria is not common in the United States, but it is common in Mexico, Central Ameria, South Ameria, Africa and the Eastern Hemisphere.