A new blood test is being developed by researchers in Cambridge and Oxford, which, for the first time, could help identify babies at risk of a severe form of sickle cell disease, allowing immediate and more intensive treatment to be given, thanks to a grant from children’s charity Action Medical Research. Over 12,000 people in the UK have sickle cell disease the UK’s most common severe genetic disorder. An estimated 20 million people are affected worldwide.1-3 Symptoms usually start early in babies who are just six to nine months old.
