COVID-19 poses a significant potential risk to those with sickle cell genes

COVID-19 poses a significant potential risk to those with sickle cell genes The present situation has led us to grasp the hard reality that the COVID-19 crisis is far from over. December 2020, a new COVID-19 strain was identified in Britain, and it is 70% more transmissible than the previous strain [1]. According to the world health organization (WHO), the third wave may hit several nations by September 2021. The second wave of COVID-19cases is still overgrowing in countries like India, where many individuals with sickle cell hemoglobinopathies are residing [2]. In tandem, they can be affected in the second wave or any other mutants of COVID-19 viruses in the upcoming wave. Several studies reported a lower oxygen saturation in sickle cell patients than normal individuals. The prevalence of hypoxemia was found to be higher in sickle cell hemoglobin (HbS) individuals (30.25%) than in HbA people (2.7%). Among the individuals having HbS, the lowest SpO2 was reported at 88% [3]. Furthermore, many people with COVID-19 have low oxygen levels that cause death [4-6]. This will be a double burden by analyzing both factors, and a life-threatening condition will be raised if individuals with sickle cell hemoglobin get affected with COVID-19. Also, numerous studies have established that individuals with the sickle gene have higher comorbidities than normal individuals [7]. Hence there is a low immunity among them to fight with COVID-19 virus as well as associated comorbidities. Sickle cell disease (SCD) patients suffering from COVID‐19 are undocumented yet. Patients with SCD have various reasons (functional hyposplenism, vasculopathy and recurrent VOCs) for an impaired immune system, which puts them in the 'high‐risk category' of acquiring SARS‐CoV‐2, like patients with other blood disorders [8]. Furthermore, a series of case studies conducted among sickle cell patients infected with COVID 19 shows severe health issues than normal individuals [9]. Therefore individuals having sickle cell hemoglobin are at a significantly higher risk of mortality due to COVID-19. As the sickle cell carriers and affecters are inhabiting the rural areas of developing counties like India [2], so till now, they are not infected. However, there is a greater chance of COVID-19 transmission to these areas due to the current second wave or any mutants of this virus in the future. There are an estimated 300 million sickle cell carriers are present worldwide, with a high prevalence in tribal regions. So it is high time to take preventive action to avoid COVID-19 transmission to these sickle cell carriers' prevalent areas and vaccinate them urgently.  References Sv P, Lathabhavan R, Ittamalla R. What concerns Indian general public on second wave of COVID-19? A report on social media opinions. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome. 2021;15(3):829. Bindhani BK, Devi NK, Nayak JK. Knowledge, awareness, and attitude of premarital screening with special focus on sickle cell disease: a study from Odisha. Journal of Community Genetics. 2020;11(4):445-9. Ladu AI, Abba AM, Bukar AA, Abulfathi FA, Kundili Y, Talba HA. Assessment of Oxygen Saturation Using Pulse Oximetry in Patients with Steady State HbSS. Annals of Clinical and Laboratory Research. 2018; 6. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): The basics of oxygen monitoring and oxygen therapy during the COVID-19pandemic 2021. Wood KC, Gladwin MT, Straub AC. Sickle cell disease: at the crossroads of pulmonary hypertension and diastolic heart failure. Heart. 2020; 106(8):562-8. Pianosi P, Charge TD, Esseltine DW, Coates AL. Pulse oximetry in sickle cell disease. Archives of disease in childhood. 1993;68(6):735-8. Pecker LH, Darbari DS. Psychosocial and affective comorbidities in sickle cell disease. Neuroscience letters. 2019; 705, 1-6. Sahu KK, Siddiqui AD, Cerny J. Managing sickle cell patients with COVID‐19 infection: the need to pool our collective experience. British journal of haematology. 2020;190(2):e86-9. Hussain FA, Njoku FU, Saraf SL, Molokie RE, Gordeuk VR, Han J. COVID-19 infection in patients with sickle cell disease. Br J Haematol. 2020;189(5):851-852. doi:10.1111/bjh.16734