3 of family die of Sickle Cell Anaemia

SAMBALPUR: After losing three of their children to sickle cell anaemia, a poor farmer couple of Tiklipada in Jamankira block are moving earth and heaven to save their only surviving child, Madhusmita. The 15-year-old girl is at present undergoing treatment at VSS Medical in Burla.The couple - Tribeni Naik and Manjulata - were blessed with four children. Unfortunately all the four children were found to be afflicted with sickle cell anaemia.The elder son Alok had died when he was two and a half years old while the second child Nini lived for just seven months. The third child, Madhusmita, is struggling for life and the youngest, a baby boy, died just a few hours after its birth.Sickle cell anaemia is a hereditary disease  in which red blood cells form an abnormal crescent shape. The fragile, sickle-shaped cells deliver less oxygen to the body tissues. They can also get stuck more easily in small blood vessels, and break into pieces that interrupt healthy blood flow.Admitted to the female surgery ward on February 28, Madhusmita is facing at an uncertain future.Almost all sickle cell anaemia patients have painful episodes, called crises and the case of Madhusmita is no different with stones being found in her gall bladder. Doctors have already removed her spleen and there is little that doctors can do to save her.Her parents said they are making all efforts to save Madhusmita.The goal of treatment is to manage and control symptoms and to limit the number of crises. The patients need regular treatment even when they do not have crises. But with the  couple having little resources and land holdings for her treatment, uncertainty looms large over Madhusmita’s fate.