Sickle-cell disease primary prevention

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Shyam Patel [2]

There are no primary preventive measures available for sickle cell disease.

There are no primary preventive measures available for sickle cell disease. However, genetic counseling for persons who are at high risk for having a child with sickle cell disease can be considered a method of primary prevention. For persons who are heterozygous for the sickle cell allele, education should be provided regarding the probability of having a child with sickle cell disease.