10 General Symptoms of Sickle Cell Anemia

5. Infections

When a child has sickle cell anemia, they are more likely to catch an illness than a healthy child. This is because of how sickle cell disease affects the spleen. Typically, the spleen helps filter bacteria from blood. When the spleen doesn't function correctly, this filtering action is lost, and it's easier for bacteria to infect those children. The most common bacteria that affects those children include Pneumococcus and Hemophilus influenza type B, which can cause lung inflammation.