Title |
An accurate and affordable test for the rapid diagnosis of sickle cell disease could revolutionize the outlook for affected children born in resource-limited settings
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Published in |
BMC Medicine, September 2015
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DOI | 10.1186/s12916-015-0483-4 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Thomas N. Williams |
Abstract |
Each year, at least 280,000 children are born with sickle cell disease (SCD) in resource-limited settings. For cost, logistic and political reasons, the availability of SCD testing is limited in such settings and consequently 50-90 % of affected children die undiagnosed before their fifth birthday. The recent development of a point of care method for the diagnosis of SCD - the Sickle SCAN™ device - could afford such children the prompt access to appropriate services that has transformed the outlook for affected children in resource-rich areas. In research published in BMC Medicine, Kanter and colleagues describe a small but carefully conducted study involving 208 children and adults, in which they found that by using Sickle SCAN™ it was possible to diagnose the common forms of SCD with 99 % sensitivity and 99 % specificity, in under 5 minutes. If repeatable both in newborn babies and under real-life conditions, and if marketed at an affordable price, Sickle SCAN™ could revolutionize the survival prospects for children born with SCD in resource-limited areas.Please see related article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0473-6 . |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United States | 2 | 40% |
Kenya | 1 | 20% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 20% |
Unknown | 1 | 20% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 3 | 60% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 20% |
Scientists | 1 | 20% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Kenya | 1 | 1% |
Unknown | 70 | 99% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Researcher | 10 | 14% |
Student > Master | 9 | 13% |
Student > Bachelor | 8 | 11% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 6 | 8% |
Other | 6 | 8% |
Other | 11 | 15% |
Unknown | 21 | 30% |
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Medicine and Dentistry | 22 | 31% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 4% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 4% |
Social Sciences | 3 | 4% |
Computer Science | 2 | 3% |
Other | 13 | 18% |
Unknown | 25 | 35% |