This a personal story shared by a family whose child had sickle cell disease. The disease causes the red blood cells to make abnormal hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the part of the blood that carries oxygen in the body. There are different kinds of sickle cell disease.
Some kinds are mild, but others cause serious illness.
One parent carries the Sickle gene, the other the Beta gene. They currently get 2.5 mil every other day. In 1987, a National Institutes of Health panel recommended that all babies be screened for sickle cell anemia, To date, more than 40 states screen for this disorder, which affects about one in 400 African-American babies and also occurs with some frequency among people of Hispanic, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and South Asian descent. Early treatment can prevent some of the complications of sickle cell anemia. Young children with the disease are especially prone to certain dangerous bacterial infections, such as pneumonia and meningitis.