Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a severe hereditary form of anemia that contributes between 50% and 80% of under-five mortality in Africa. Eleven thousand babies are born with SCD annually in Tanzania, ranking 4 after Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and India. The absence of well-described SCD cohorts is a major barrier to health research in SCD in Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite three decades of proven safety and effectiveness of hydroxyurea in modifying sickle cell disease (SCD), its accessibility is limited in Sub-Saharan Africa, which shares 75% of the world's SCD burden. Therefore, it is time to explore the barriers and facilitators for manufacturing and importation of hydroxyurea for SCD in Tanzania. This was qualitative research that employed a case study approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bacterial infections contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients, particularly children under five years of age. In Tanzania, prophylaxis against pneumococcal infection among children with SCD advocates the use of both oral penicillin V (PV) and pneumococcal vaccines (PNV). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate nasopharyngeal carriage and antibiogram of () and () in children with SCD in Tanzania.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTanzania is among the top five countries with a high burden of sickle cell disease (SCD) in the world. Even though the effects of SCD on quality of life have been documented in other countries including Nigeria and the United States of America, few are known from Tanzania. Therefore, this study focused on evaluating the effects of SCD on the quality of life among children living with SCD and their parents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSickle cell disease (SCD) is the single most important genetic cause of childhood mortality globally. Newborn screening (NBS) is the recommended intervention aimed at early identification of babies with SCD and their linkage to care. To ensure success of NBS, pregnant women need to have the required knowledge on SCD and therefore motivation to screen their babies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSickle cell disease (SCD) is a global public health priority due to its high morbidity and mortality. In Tanzania, SCD accounts for 7% of under-five mortality. Cost-effective interventions such as early diagnosis and linkage to care have been shown to prevent 70% of deaths but require knowledge among healthcare workers and availability of resources at health facilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFactors contributing to low use of HU among SCD patients exist in high-income countries. The latter leaves a drift of literature on factors for low utilization of HU in developing countries. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the use of HU in the management of SCD in Tanzania.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTanzania is one of the countries with a high burden of sickle cell disease (SCD). Haemolytic anaemia is a clinical feature of SCD, and has been linked to major complications leading to morbidity and mortality. Treatment with hydroxyurea (HU) has shown to induce foetal haemoglobin (HbF) which in turn decreases haemolysis in patients.
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