title: Preventing Infections in Sickle Cell Disease: The Unfinished Business.
abstract: While encapsulated bacterial agents, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae, are recognized as important microbes that are associated with serious illness in hosts with sickle cell disease (SCD), multiple pathogens are implicated in infectious manifestations of SCD. Variations in clinical practice have been an obstacle to the universal implementation of infection preventive management through active, targeted vaccination of these individuals and routine usage of antibiotic prophylaxis. Paradoxically, in low-income settings, there is evidence that SCD also increases the risk for several other infections that warrant additional infection preventive measures. The infection preventive care among patients with SCD in developed countries does not easily translate to the adoption of these recommendations globally, which must take into account the local epidemiology of infections, available vaccines and population-specific vaccine efficacy, environment, health care behaviors, and cultural beliefs, as these are all factors that play a complex role in the manifestation of SCD and the prevention of infectious disease morbidity.
authors: Department of pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska.|Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska.|International Foundation Against Infectious Diseases in Nigeria (IFAIN), Millennium Plaza, Central Business Area, Abuja, Nigeria.|Department of Pediatrics, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Nigeria.
authors: Stephen K
authors: SK
authors: Obaro
authors: Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
authors: P Y
authors: PY
authors: Iroh Tam
mesh_terms: D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011018:Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae
chemical_list: D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines
keywords: encapsulated bacteria; malaria; sickle cell; vaccination