A medical expert has enjoined parents to request newborn screening for sickle cell disorder for their babies. According to Prof Ola Akinyanju, this is needed for early preventive care of children with sickle cell disorder (SCD).
he revealed this while speaking at an event marking this year's World Sickle Cell Day. He defined newborn screening as the process of ensuring early diagnosis of many disorders.
"Newborn screening is the process by which diagnosis of one or more
harmful disorders is made as soon as possible in newborn babies before
they develop the symptoms and signs of the disorder," he said.
Without screening, he said sickle cell disorder cannot be suspected and diagnosis cannot be made. He then described the process of establishing the diagnosis.
He said: "A spot of blood from the newborn is subjected to detection of its Hb types by one of the 3 reliable and accurate methods - Haemoglobin electrophoresis using both cellulose acetate and citrate agar (one medium is not enough); Isoelectric focusing (IEF); and High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)."
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