RFI: Covid-19 and sickle cell disease do not mix well
Fri, Apr 24
|France
The presence of other medical conditions increases the risk of complications in a patient with the novel coronavirus. Sickle cell disease, a widespread genetic disorder affecting the hemoglobin in red blood cells, is one such condition. Interview.
Time & Location
Apr 24, 2020, 7:10 AM – 11:10 AM
France, France
About the event
What additional risks does Covid-19 pose to patients with sickle cell disease on the African continent? How can they be cared for? Professor Léon Tshilolo provides some answers. A pediatrician and hematologist, he heads the Health Training and Support Center at the Monkole Mother-Child Hospital in Kinshasa. A member of the French Academy of Medicine, he is also the president of the Central African Sickle Cell Disease Research Network.
RFI: Does having sickle cell disease constitute an increased risk in the face of Covid-19?
Professor Léon Tshilolo: Covid-19 is not only of interest to virologists, pulmonologists, or infectious disease specialists. Recently, we learned that this disease also affects the small red blood cell and, consequently, individuals who suffer from a hereditary disease, sickle cell anemia.
People with sickle cell disease are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 for very simple reasons: they have weakened immune systems and low hemoglobin levels. Furthermore,…