29 March 2018
Facts about Sickle Cell Disease
Blood donations can help
- Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a hereditary blood disorder that affects the red blood cells.
- Adults with SCD can require up to 12 units of blood per month.
- SCD patients often require blood from donors of similar race or ethnicity, to receive the most benefit from their transfusion.
- One in 500 African Americans are affected by SCD.
- More than 95% of SCD patients are African Americans, yet only 5 percent of blood donors are African American.
- In the US, an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people are affected by SCD. Most are African Americans.
- SCD occurs in more than one out of every 36,000 Hispanic births.
- More than 2 million Americans have the sickle cell trait; one in 12 African Americans have the sickle cell trait.
- About 1,000 babies are born with SCD each year.