scholarly journals Editorial for Special Issue “Newborn Screening for Sickle Cell Disease and other Haemoglobinopathies”

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Colombatti ◽  
Cela ◽  
Elion ◽  
Lobitz

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is among the most common genetic disorders in the world, affectingover 300,000 newborns annually, with estimates for further increases to over 400,000 annual birthswithin the next generation and with a wider geographical distribution of affected individuals due toglobal migration [1,2]. [...]

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ali ◽  
Lina Okar ◽  
Nabil E. Omar ◽  
Jabeed Parengal ◽  
Ashraf Soliman ◽  
...  

Despite the widespread of coronavirus disease-19 (CO­VID-19) infection around the world, there are very scarce reported literature about the care of patients with a known diagnosis of hemoglobin disorders such as sickle cell disease (SCD) or thalassemia and confirmed COVID-19 infection. Thalassemia International Federation issued a position statement to include patients with thalassemia and SCD among the high-risk groups of patients. Here, we present an interesting case of a 42-year-old patient know to have SCD presenting with Vaso-occlusive (VOC) pain episode in the absence of COVID-19 signs and symptoms, who tested positive for COVID-19 infection and had a smooth recovery. This case highlights the importance of screening SCD patients presenting with VOC-related events even in the absence of COVID-19 signs and symptoms.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 2173-2173
Author(s):  
Arwa Fraiwan ◽  
Muhammad Noman Hasan ◽  
Ran An ◽  
Amy J. Rezac ◽  
Nicholas J. Kocmich ◽  
...  

Nigeria leads the world in the number of cases of sickle cell disease (SCD). An estimated 150,000 babies are born annually in Nigeria with SCD, a heredity disorder, and 70-90% die before age 5. Only a small portion of affected infants and children in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) reach adolescence. Over 650 children die per day in sub-Saharan Africa from SCD. These dismal statistics are in sharp contrast to outcomes in high-income countries (HICs) where more than 90% of SCD patients reach adulthood. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 70% of deaths could be prevented with a low cost diagnostic and treatment plan. Meaningful preventive care and treatment cannot be implemented without a structured plan for early diagnosis and patient tracking.Early diagnosis requires improved access to parents and guardians of children with SCD, and gaining this access remains a challenge in most of SSA. In 2015, Nigeria's Kano state government, with support from foreign partners, established a community-based program for newborn registration. This platform provides unique access to newborn babies in one of Nigeria's most populous cities, but still lacks a functioning patient testing, tracking, and monitoring system, which we plan to address in our ongoing study. This study will introduce mobile health in a low-income country with low literacy rate and hopefully accustom that segment of the population to more varied mobile health applications that will ultimately improve their health in the long run. Our current operational platform in Kano, Nigeria provides access to a large population with a high prevalence of SCD. We have previously completed pilot testing of 315 subjects for SCD using our microchip electrophoresis test. We are planning to test up to 4,500 additional subjects less than 5 years of age at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital. The hospital staff includes 97 physicians and 415 nurses and outpatient clinics serve about 30,000 patients monthly. The maternity department has a 200-bed capacity and the antenatal clinic performs about 1,000 deliveries and serves an average of 3,000 mothers monthly. Enrollment is planned to start on September 15, 2019 and medical staff are currently being trained to run the tests. Our study is registered in the United States National Library of Medicine's ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03948516). Our technology is uniquely paired with an automatic reader and an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and patient management solution to record POC test results, register new cases, and track patients for follow-up (Fig. 1). The reader enables automated interpretation of test results, local and remote test data storage, and includes geolocation (Global Positioning System) (Fig. 2). The system will generate reports for all cases of SCD, track hospital visits, appointments, lab tests, and will have mobile and dashboard applications for tracking patients and samples. The application will be installed on mobile devices provided to users. The proposed system will be compliant with the existing privacy standards to handle medical data (e.g., HIPAA in the US and GDPR in the EU). All communications between the parties will be secured via end-to-end encryption as a safeguard. We anticipate that our project will increase the rates of screening, diagnosis and timely treatment of SCD in Kano State of Nigeria. The project's broader impact will likely be the ability to track and monitor screening, disease detection, diagnosis and treatment, which can be scaled up to the whole nation of Nigeria, then to sub-Saharan Africa. The data obtained and analyzed will be the first of their kind and will be used to inform the design of programs to improve access to, and availability of, effective care for this underserved populations. The importance of increased access to diagnosis and treatment should not be underestimated - it is crucial for realizing effective management of people with SCD. The impact can be enhanced by complementing diagnosis and patient tracking with education for the families so they can provide or seek the necessary preventative treatment. Identification of the location of the patients in need would help identify the areas where family, parent, caregiver education should be provided. Disclosures Fraiwan: Hemex Health, Inc.: Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties. Hasan:Hemex Health, Inc.: Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties. An:Hemex Health, Inc.: Patents & Royalties. Thota:Hemex Health, Inc.: Employment. Gurkan:Hemex Health, Inc.: Consultancy, Employment, Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-905
Author(s):  
Sandra Hernandez

The ultimate objective of newborn screening for sickle cell disease should be twofold. The first essential step is the identification of the infants at risk. This has been effectively done in New York state as of 1975 through the New York State Newborn Screening Program. However, identifying these children is not enough. Second is the much more complicated task of providing comprehensive follow-up care for families whose children are affected by the disease, including the much needed psychosocial services. This area continues to be sorely neglected. The increased risk of death due to overwhelming infection in the first 3 years of life for children with sickle cell disease has been noted in the literature. When there is no specialized care, 15% to 20% do not survive. Therefore, it is essential for knowledgeable staff to make contact and begin to develop a trusting relationship as soon as possible with parents of infants born with sickle cell disease. Prophylactic penicillin and pneumococcal vaccination can reduce mortality during the early years. Family involvement with a consistent, available team of health care providers is pivotal in understanding this chronic illness and coping effectively with this extraordinary stress. Our staff is available by telephone for consultations with patients or other medical staff during clinic and emergency room visits and hospitalizations. One element that is clear in our experience at the St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Sickle Cell Center in New York City is that adjustment to this chronic illness is a lifelong process. One or two counseling sessions at the time of diagnosis are not sufficient to enable families to fully understand the information given or to realize the impact of having a child with a chronic illness.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 749-755
Author(s):  
Elliott Vichinsky ◽  
Deborah Hurst ◽  
Ann Earles ◽  
Klara Kleman ◽  
Bertram Lubin

Newborn screening for sickle cell disease has been recommended as a method of decreasing patient mortality. However, its effectiveness in accomplishing this has not been reliably measured. To help determine the effectiveness, 10 years of experience in newborn screening have been summarized. The effects of early patient enrollment in a comprehensive treatment program on long-term morbidity and mortality are reported. From 1975 to 1985, 84,663 newborns were screened regardless of race or ethnic background. Bart's hemoglobin was present in 5%, hemoglobin AS in 2.6%, and hemoglobin AC in 0.75%. Excluding Bart's, approximately 3.6% of all newborns were carriers for hemoglobinopathy. Sickle cell disease occurred in 1:951 births (58 hemoglobin SS, 25 hemoglobin FSC, three hemoglobin S-β+-thalassemia, and three hemoglobin S-β°-thalassemia). In addition, one in every 4,233 newborns had a clinically significant thalassemia syndrome (eight hemoglobin FE, ten hemoglobin F only, two hemoglobin H). Compared with other newborn screening programs in California, (congenital hypothyroidism, 1:3,849; phenylketonuria 1:22,474, galactosemia 1:74,103), hemoglobinopathies are the most prevalent congenital disease. Eighty-one newborns with sickle cell disease were followed for 7.2 years. Patients experienced 513 hospitalizations, including 13 episodes of sepsis with or without meningitis and ten acute sequestration crises. The overall mortality rate for patients with sickle cell anemia diagnosed in the newborn period was 1.8%. In comparison, the clinical course of 64 patients with sickle cell anemia diagnosed after 3 months of age and followed for an average of 9.4 years was analyzed. Five of these patients died. In two of these, sickle cell anemia was diagnosed at the time of the death. Overall mortality rate in this group was 8%. In summary, the data indicate that newborn screening, when coupled with extensive follow-up and education, will significantly decrease patient mortality.


Sickle cell disease 250 This is one of the most common inherited conditions in the world and affects predominantly people from equatorial Africa but also those of Mediterranean, Indian, and Middle-Eastern descent. It is recessively inherited and in the homozygous form (HbSS) causes a multi-organ disorder....


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Maddalena Martella ◽  
Giampietro Viola ◽  
Silvia Azzena ◽  
Sara Schiavon ◽  
Andrea Biondi ◽  
...  

A multicenter pilot program for universal newborn screening of Sickle cell disease (SCD) was conducted in two centres of Northern Italy (Padova and Monza). High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was performed as the first test on samples collected on Guthrie cards and molecular analysis of the β-globin gene (HBB) was the confirmatory test performed on the HPLC-positive or indeterminate samples. 5466 samples of newborns were evaluated. Of these, 5439/5466 were submitted to HPLC analysis and the molecular analysis always confirmed in all the alteration detected in HPLC (62/5439 newborns); 4/5439 (0.07%) were SCD affected, 37/5439 (0.68%) were HbAS carriers and 21/5439 (0.40%) showed other hemoglobinopathies. Stored dried blood spots were adequate for HPLC and β-globin gene molecular analysis. Samples were suitable for analysis until sixteen months old. A cut-off of A1 percentage, in order to avoid false negative or unnecessary confirmation tests, was identified. Our experience showed that several technical issues need to be addressed and resolved while developing a multicenter NBS program for SCD in a country where there is no national neonatal screening (NBS) program for SCD and NBS programs occur on a regional basis.


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