Reducing Sickle Cell Deaths
- Joan Stephenson, PhD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- AFRICA
- ANEMIA, SICKLE CELL
- BACTEREMIA
- CHILDREN'S HEALTH
- HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE
- MASS IMMUNIZATION
- MORTALITY
- NEONATAL SCREENING
- SALMONELLA
- STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE
- VACCINATION
Vaccinating all children in sub-Saharan Africa against some bacterial infections could substantially improve the survival of children with sickle cell anemia, according to a new study by researchers in Kenya, England, Ghana, and Tanzania (Williams TN et al. Lancet. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61374-X [published online ahead of print September 9, 2009]).
Each year, an estimated 200 000 children in Africa are born with sickle cell anemia, and more than 90% die before the disease is diagnosed.
In a study of 38 441 children younger than 14 years admitted to a hospital in Kenya, the researchers found that 6% of children with bacteremia had sickle cell anemia compared with only 1% of children from 2 groups of matched controls. The age-adjusted odds ratio for bacteremia in children with sickle cell anemia was 26.3, with the strongest associations for Streptococcus pneumoniae, non-typhi Salmonella species, and Haemophilus influenzae type b.
Neonatal screening for sickle cell …
