From infancy, sickle cell patients face a host of complications involving infections, stroke, and organ damage and failure. I S K Children whose parents both carry the gene for sickle cell are at risk of inheriting the disease. Two copies of the gene, one from each parent, must be present in order for the disease to manifest itself. The gene is prevalent in people from Africa and parts of India and the Mediterranean. The sickle cell gene also is found in people from South and Central America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
Patients also encounter episodes of pain known as sickle cell crises.
During a crisis, patients experience shortness of breath, nausea, low-grade fever, jaundice and severe pain in the fingers, toes, arms, joints, legs, back, abdomen or bones. During a crisis, blockage of blood and oxygen to the chest and lungs may lead to acute chest syndrome. Damage to the lungs causes severe pain and fever, and produces an abnormal chest X-ray. The lungs' airways narrow, further reducing oxygen delivery. All this leads to an increased risk for infections, which can be fatal.