Sickle cell patients may develop COVID-19 complications

Patients with the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) are among the population of people who at a higher risk of developing serious complications from the coronavirus. On the authority of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “sickle cell disease (SCD), or sickle cell anaemia is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “The normal round shape of red blood cells become like crescent moons. Round blood cells can move easily through the blood vessels but sickle shaped cells interconnect and can result in blood clots.” Also, “These cells can block blood flow to the rest of the body and can lead to serious problems, including stroke, eye problems, infections and episodes of pain, called pain crises,” says the CDC.

Additionally, the blood condition, sickle cell disease is genetic or inherited and is caused by mutations in the beta globin gene that helps to make haemoglobin in the red blood cells, which usually takes up oxygen in the lungs and carries it through the arteries to all the cells in the tissues of the body, documents the CDC. Thus, children adapt the gene mutations form their parents and develop the disease.

“I feel tired and weak if I play a lot,” says 10-year-old SCD patient, Renicka Fuller (not her real name). Fuller experiences exhaustion if she prolongs outdoor activities, like playing with her siblings and friends. She also suffers from muscle aches and has been hospitalized numerous times, but only once since the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Since the prevalence of the coronavirus, Fuller cautiously follows the COVID-19 protocols, like mask wearing and regular hand sanitization. However, her interaction with schoolmates is limited as she attends online school, for which her mother is grateful. “Renicka is kind of safer now to me cause she has online school and it prevents her from being with children or people that might have Covid, and you don’t know,” says Tricia Thompson (not her real name), mother of Renicka Fuller.

But the sickle disease is a lifelong and presents a high risk for COVID-19 complications if patients do not observe the COVID-19 preventative measures and become infected with the disease. Sickle cell disease patients who have COVID-19 are at an increased risk of hospitalization, developing pneumonia and pain, documents the American Society of Hematology (ASH). However, both adult and children SCD patients, may have overlaps in symptoms with the Covid-19 disease such as acute chest syndrome (ACS) and infections in pneumonia.

These adverse conditions are only seen in a few SCD patients and, according to the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW), in Jamaica, one in every 150 people has the sickle cell disease and one in every 10 people has the trait. Sickle cell disease patients are advised to be extra precautious amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic by The Sickle Cell Unit (SCU) at the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAHIR).