Pain associated with worse COVID-19 in sickle cell diseaseA history of pain in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients—the disease's most common complication—is associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes in children and adults, according to a Blood Advances study yesterday.
SCD-related organ comorbidities were also related to worse COVID-19 outcomes in children.The researchers looked at 750 international patients with COVID-19 and SCD from March 2020 to 2021.
Almost half (48.5%) were children, median age 11, and the remaining were adults, median age 31. About 91% were Black and 7% were Latino.Most had prior acute care visits for pain (55.5% children, 78.5% adults), and almost one in three had acute chest syndrome in the previous 3 years (29.4%