 News
20th October 2006
All newborns to be tested for sickle cell
All newborn babies are to be tested for sickle cell disease as part of
the standard heel prick test.
The heel prick test, which has routinely been performed
to test for a range of other diseases such as cystic fibrosis, involves
pricking the baby's heel to collect some small drops of blood.
Sickle cell, so called because of the altered shape of the
red blood cells, affects the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and
varies in severity.
In England, it affects about 12,500 people and about 240,000
are carriers of the faulty genes that cause it.
It can cause serious medical problems and in worst cases,
death.
It is thought the test, which will be performed by midwives,
will identify 300 new cases in babies each year.
Sickle cell disease in the UK has always been associated
with people of Caribbean or African origin. However, with the increased
number of mixed relationships, anyone could potentially be a carrier or
sufferer.
Allison Streetly, director of the NHS Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia
Screening Programme, said screening was crucial to spot those at risk.
She said, "It is no longer possible to assume who may or
may not be affected."
It has also been recommended that all pregnant women in
England should also be offered a blood test in early pregnancy to check
whether they carry a gene for sickle cell anaemia or a similar blood disorder
called thalassaemia, and genetic counselling provided for those who do.
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