{"meta":{"status":200,"messages":[],"pagination":{"max":1,"offset":0,"count":1,"total":1,"pageNum":1,"totalPages":1,"sort":null,"currentUrl":"https://api.digitalmedia.hhs.gov/api/v2/resources/media.json?offset=0&max=1&ignoreHiddenMedia=1&format=json&id=1303&newUrlBase=http://www.cdc.gov/features/sickle-cell-students","nextUrl":null,"previousUrl":null}},"results":[{"content":"
\nFind out how teachers and others can help children with this condition.
\nCDC has created a new booklet for teachers of students with sickle cell disease (SCD), Tips for Supporting Students with Sickle Cell Disease [969 KB].
\nThis booklet:
\nView and print the booklet, Tips for Supporting Students with Sickle Cell Disease [969 KB]
\nEnsure children have adequate access to water for hydration.
\nTo help children with SCD, teachers, nurses, and administrators can:
\nParents and caregivers can:
\nSCD is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. Healthy red blood cells are round, and they move through small blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. In someone who has SCD, the red blood cells become hard and sticky and look like a C-shaped farm tool called a \"sickle.\" The sickle cells die early, which causes a constant shortage of red blood cells. Also, when they travel through small blood vessels, they get stuck and clog the blood flow. This can cause pain and other serious problems such as infection, acute chest syndrome and stroke.
\nPeople with SCD can live full lives and enjoy most of the activities that other people do. If you have students with SCD in your school, learn how you can help these students perform at their best and reduce their chances of developing a health problem related to their condition.
\nSCD is a common inherited blood disorder in the United States, affecting an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 Americans. SCD can lead to lifelong disabilities and reduce average life expectancy. In addition, the financial cost of SCD is high, both to people with the disease and to the health care system. Costs for hospital stays due to complications of SCD were estimated at $488 million in 2004.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Division of Blood Disorders considers SCD a major public health concern and is committed to conducting surveillance, raising awareness, and promoting health education.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Statistical Brief #21 [1.4 MB]: Sickle Cell Disease Patients in U.S. Hospitals, 2004. Accessed December 2, 2009.
\n