BETHLEHEM, Pa. (WLVT) - September is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month.
"In the 1980s President Ronald Regan declared national sickle cell month a time to make people aware of this devastating disease and how we can support people in local communities as well as in our nation," explains Executive Director of Donor Operations at Miller-Keystone Blood Center, Qiana Cressman.
Millions of people do not know they have sickle cell trait. That’s because the trait usually does not cause illness. But experts say that’s what makes it so important to be tested. If you and your partner both have sickle cell trait, there is a 25% chance with each pregnancy that your child could be born with sickle cell disease. About 3,000 children are born each year in the US with the genetic disease that affects red blood cells.
"Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic disease in the United States. It affects about 100,00 individuals and these individuals go through chronic pain. Their life blood really is blood transfusions and many individuals don’t understand, because the patients look so healthy, all that they go through and how traumatizing it is," Cressman explains, "Their cells sickle at different times, they become hard, stiff and sticky and begin to clog the blood vessels and unfortunately do harm to the body’s vital organs."
Miller-Keystone Blood Center has locations across the Greater Lehigh Valley. Cressman says, the regular blood donations they rely on help the center provide blood transfusions that are often a critical treatment for Sickle Cell Disease.
"Getting healthy blood transfusions from healthy blood donors gives these patients more of a quality of life," Cressman tells PBS News, "so because it’s been in the past, a silent disease, it’s important to give this disease the national attention it deserves."
But an ongoing pandemic has made collecting critical blood products like the ones provided by Miller-Keystone all the more difficult.
"With schools closing right now, with so many things going virtual, we want to let donors know that we still need you so please come to one of our sites and donate," she says, "We are holding mobile drives but on a more modified schedule because obviously with business and schools closed and other organizations closed that limits the blood drives that we can host within our community."
Because of the pandemic, Miller-Keystone Blood Center has adopted an appointment-only policy at this time. For more information on who can donate and how to do so, visit GiveaPint.org