Atrium raises awareness for pediatric sickle cell

Dr. Patrick DeMoss says symptoms for pediatric sickle cell may differ for kids in different age groups.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Atrium is raising awareness for pediatric sickle cell and aims to educate Middle Georgia about the disease.

Dr. Patrick DeMoss says sickle cell is a disease of red blood cells in which, over time, the cells become more fragile. He adds that the red blood cells tend to break apart or get stuck in blood vessels throughout the body.

“It’s a debilitating, chronic illness that the medical community is working on alleviating,” says Dr. DeMoss.

Dr. DeMoss adds that there are some solutions, but for most people it’s a managed illness.

“It’s usually picked up on the newborn screening that you get or have done in the nursery or the NICU,” adds DeMoss. “They test for a panel of different diseases that if you catch them early enough you can kind of intervene and prevent a lot of bad things from happening.”

While most cases are detected at an early stage, Dr. DeMoss adds that “sometimes a patient kind of slips through is not diagnosed at birth.”

DeMoss says symptoms for pediatric sickle cell may differ for children in different age groups.