AUTHOR=Serjeant Graham R. 

TITLE=Sickle Cell Disease: Thoughts for India From the Jamaican Cohort Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.745189

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.745189

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=The sickle cell gene in India represents a separate occurrence of the HbS mutation (the Asian haplotype) which has occurred against a genetic background characterized by frequent alpha thalassaemia and high levels of fetal haemoglobin.  These features, which tend to inhibit sickling, change expression of the disease, which in India, may be further modified by poor nutrition, malaria and other infections, and limited public health resources.  Sickle cell disease in Jamaica is predominantly of African origin (the Benin haplotype) and faces some similar challenges.  This review assesses similarities and differences between disease expression in the two countries and seeks to explore lessons from Jamaica which may be relevant to Indian health care.  In particular, it addresses common causes of hospital admission as detailed from Indian clinical experience, blood transfusion, the bone pain crisis, and infections.