![\"News](\"https:\/\/media.healthday.com\/Images\/icimages\/sicklecell_630.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
MONDAY, July 13, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
People with sickle cell disease<\/a> are at increased risk for severe complications from COVID-19<\/a>, an expert says.<\/p>\n “Many patients experience a pain<\/a> crisis, also known as a vaso-occlusive crisis, early in COVID-19<\/a> infection before respiratory symptoms develop,” said Dr. Jennie Hart, clinical director of pediatric hematology\/oncology<\/a> at Herman and Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital at Sinai in Baltimore.<\/p>\n COVID-19<\/a> can cause severe inflammation and lung injury. And that can have a greater impact on people with sickle cell disease<\/a>, a group of inherited<\/a> red blood cell disorders, Hart said.<\/p>\n People with the disease, which most commonly affects Black people, have misshapen red cells<\/a> that can get stuck and clog blood flow, inhibiting oxygen delivery, damaging blood vessels and causing inflammation.<\/p>\n Some conditions — including respiratory infections such as COVID-19<\/a> — increase formation of sickle-shaped cells, because infections in the lungs<\/a> lead to lower oxygen levels and worse inflammation.<\/p>\n “This increase in sickled red blood cells<\/a> makes patients with sickle cell disease and COVID-19<\/a> infection particularly vulnerable to developing acute chest syndrome, a rapid and deadly lung injury,” Hart said in a news release.<\/p>\n People with sickle cell disease should stay home unless travel is essential, according to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.<\/p>\n “Patients who can work from home are strongly encouraged to do so. Your physician can provide a letter to your employer,” Hart said. Social distancing is a must, she added.<\/p>\n If you have sickle cell disease, call your doctor immediately if you develop a fever<\/a> or chest pain<\/a>, have difficulty breathing<\/a>, or are experiencing a pain<\/a> crisis, she advised.<\/p>\n Take all your medications as prescribed, especially if you’re taking hydroxyurea<\/a>, which reduces certain complications from sickle cell disease, she added.<\/p>\n Stay well hydrated, wash your hands often and avoid close contact with people who have symptoms of a respiratory infection<\/a>, Hart said.<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
Copyright \u00a9 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/quiz\/blood-and-bleeding-disorders\/s3.jpg\"\/)