Sickle Cell Anemia

P. falciparum – Blood stages

Uninfected RBC

2 hr.

4 hr.

12 hr.

Malaria - Merozoite

Malaria and Sickle cell anemia

90% of Malaria Deaths Occur Among Children Under Five Years of Age

Red indicates areas where malaria transmission is thought to occur; lighter color indicates areas of limited risk. Source: WHO, 2003

Children’s QuestionnaireMALARIA MODULE

Malaria – Geographic distribution

Sickle Cell Gene Severe Malaria

Prevalence

More than 2.5 million Americans have the trait

70,000 or more Americans have sickle cell disease

About 1,000 babies are born with the disease each year in America In Nigeria, 1/3 population of U.S., 45,000-90,000

babies with sickle cell disease are born each year

Mechanism

Red blood cells (RBC)

Contain a special protein called hemoglobin

(Hb) Hb is the component that carries oxygen

from the lungs to all parts of the body

Most people have only hemoglobin type – Hb

A within RBC (normal genotype: Hb AA)

Sickle Cell: HbS

S similar to A, but one structural change

Other types: HbC, HbD, and HbE

The Proteins of Hemoglobin A

• There are 4 protein subunits of Hemoglobin A

There will be different forms of Hemoglobin when there is a mutation in the beta subunit.

Medical Complications

1. pain episodes

2. strokes

3. increased infections

4. leg ulcers

5. bone damage

6. yellow eyes or jaundice

7. early gallstones

8. lung blockage

9. kidney damage and loss of body water in urine

10.painful erections in men (priapism)

11.blood blockage in the spleen or liver (sequestration)

12.eye damage

13.low red blood cell counts (anemia)

14.delayed growth

Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation Bone marrow transplants are the closest things

possible to a cure for sickle cell anemia.

Process In bone marrow transplantation, the affected

person’s bone marrow is replaced with cells containing genes for the non-sickle cell hemoglobin.

Production of healthy red blood cells starts and the sickle shaped cells are prevented. If the transplant is performed when the affected person is still young then success rates can be as high as 90-95%.(Sickle Cell Society 2005)