Why do people with sickle cell anaemia not suffer from malaria?
A 2: A common mis-conception. People with sickle cell anaemia do suffer from malaria, and very badly too. Doctors who have been wrongly taught have been known to advise their sickle cell anaemia patients travelling from Europe to the Tropics not to bother taking anti-malarial tablets because the sickle cells make them immune to the parasite. Dangerous advice, as malaria is the commonest cause of sickle cell crisis in Africa [ See also Question 8. References 9, 11 to 14, 21 & 22].
