Who gets sickle cell?
Sickle cell disease affects people of many nationalities including Italians, Latin Americans, Greeks, Arabs, and Asiatic Indians. However, it disproportionately affects people of African descent. All states now screen all newborns for sickle cell. In the U.S., approximately 1 out of 10-12 African Americans has sickle cell trait, and 1 out of 400-500 African American newborns has the disease. Approximately 1 out of 1,000-1,400 Hispanic newborns has the disease.
