Sickle Cell Management During the Blood Crisis with Edward Ivy, MD, MPH

In January, The American Red Cross reported that it was facing “its worst blood shortage in over a decade” amid surging cases of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. For the first time since its inception, the Red Cross declared a “Blood Crisis”, with blood and platelet donations reaching critically low levels.

Among those affected are patients with sickle cell disease.

Edward Ivy, MD, MPH, Vice Chief Medical Officer of the Sickle Cell Association of America (SCDAA), spoke of the implications of the blood shortage for patients with sickle cell disease, as well as promising new treatments that could be emerging in the coming years.