Who is affected by Sickle Cell Disease?
Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic disease in the world.
Commonly found in people whose families come from Africa, South or Central America (especially Panama), Caribbean islands, Mediterranean countries (such as Turkey, Greece, and Italy), India, and Saudi Arabia.
Currently, approximately 250 million people worldwide carry the gene responsible for sickle cell disease and other hemoglobin diseases. Each year about 300,000 infants are born with a major hemoglobin disease worldwide.
In the United States
The exact number of people living with SCD in the U.S. is unknown. Working with partners, the CDC supports projects to learn about the number of people living with SCD to better understand how the disease impacts their health.
It is estimated that:
SCD affects approximately 100,000 Americans.
SCD occurs among about 1 out of every 365 Black or African-American births.
SCD occurs among about 1 out of every 16,300 Hispanic-American births.
About 1 in 13 Black or African-American babies is born with sickle cell trait (SCT).
There are approximately 90,000 individuals with sickle cell disease in the United States with 10% of the population at risk for sickle cell disease. It is estimated that there are 5,000 with the disease living in Los Angeles County, however the actual figure is currently unknown.
Annually, in California approximately 150 babies are identified with sickle cell disease and one in every 70 infants is identified with sickle cell trait or another hemoglobin trait, the carrier status for sickle cell disease and other hemoglobin diseases.
