Neonatal screening for sickle cell disease in Taif governorate, KSA

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited conditions of red blood cells affecting mainly individuals of African origin but also Indian , Saudi and some Mediterranean populations . Neonatal screening and early diagnosis of sickle cell disease (SCD) is essential to prepare preventative and management program as the greatest mortality in SCD occurs in the first year of life. Major causes of death at this age include pneumococcal sepsis, acute splenic sequestration, and chest syndrome. This paper presents cross sectional study from newborn child whose come to immunization unit in Prince Mansur hospital to take the first dose of immunization program in Taif, Saudi Arabia, between the period of August 2014 to January 2015. A 860 newborn child was tested for early detection of sickle cell disease, 450 (52,3%) male newborns child and 410 (47,6%) female newborns child. A self-administrated questionnaire and a venous blood sample (3 ml) for complete blood count and hemoglobin electrophoresis to all newborn children participate in the study. The questionnaire includes questions about socio-demographic data, gestational age, family history, positive consanguinity of parents. Also weight and height and categorize it underweight, normal, overweight according to WHO classification. All collected data was been statistically analyzed using SPSS version 16.