According to the Mayo Clinic sickle cell disease is a disorder that affects the red blood cells. It is a disorder that is prominently found in African American individuals. It causes red blood cells to be formed in the shape of a sickle. This causes a lack of healthy blood cells, resulting in sickle cell anemia. Some of the symptoms of sickle cell disease include fatigue, low red blood cells, and infections. This also includes shortness of breath and low oxygen levels. Due to the effects of this disorder, COVID-19 can have a very adverse effect on the health of an individual. The American Society of Hematology reports patients with sickle cell disease reflect predetermined poor effects if they contract COVID-19.
While COVID-19 seems to be a disease that is bound to trigger a poor reaction in individuals with sickle cell disease, officials are not certain because they do not know. Stat News reports officials only make this assumption because past flue pandemics have reflected worse outcomes in this patients compared to others. Another factor health officials are unsure about is the presence of the trait, not the disease. Deneen Votja, a former pediatrician with a background in Hematology noticed that patients who contracted COVID-19 had x-rays similar to those with sickle cell disease. She believes this information could be valuable. One thing that I can personally be sure about is that the individual experience I had with my family friend definitely suffered more because of her sickle cell anemia symptoms and COVID-19. And while I have no scientific proof to back her situation, her experience with COVID-19 is definitely similar to those with underlying health conditions but not as much as the general public, and her case, along with others, should be a major focus when deciding how to treat and prevent the spread of COVID-19
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