RELEASE ON RECEIPT



                                      Contact:  Katherine Jackson
     CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. Feb. 14--While a new preventive drug
treatment for sickle cell anemia has proved helpful in adults,
doctors at the University of Virginia Children's Medical Center
stress early diagnoses and intervention to reduce childhood deaths
related to the disease.
     U.Va.'s comprehensive sickle cell anemia center emphasizes
educating families and health care professionals as well as the
community about all aspects of the disease.  Genetic counseling is
available too, says Dr. Peter Waldron, assistant professor of
pediatrics and director of the center. 
     "We make a great effort to teach families of affected children
about the disease so that they will be able to recognize problems
when they are most easily treated." 
     Infection is the leading cause of death in children with the
inherited disease for which there is no known cure, says Waldron.
"In Virginia infants at risk for sickle cell are screened to detect
problems at the earliest point," he says.
     "Penicillin is the most effective treatment for infection in
children from three months of age until age six. After age six the
infections prevented by penicillin are less common.  From age six
until the late teens is sometimes referred to as a honeymoon period
because the difficulties caused by the disease are usually
decreased.  In the late teens we start to see problems due to long
exposure to the abnormal state of their blood," notes Waldron.  
     The chronic disease affects one in 12 Americans of African,
Middle East, Mediterranean and India ancestry.  It is characterized
by pain and tissue damage which results from abnormal sickle-shaped
cells becoming wedged in tiny blood vessels. About 72,000 Americans
are affected.
     A grant from the State Department of Health has supported the
comprehensive center for children with sickle cell anemia since
September. The center provides alternative treatments for about 50
children with the disease. Many of its services are coordinated
with the local health department to avoid duplication, says
registered nurse and teacher Marilu Dixon. 
     U.Va. has provided care to children with sickle cell anemia
since 1970. Other centers are located in Fairfax, Norfolk and
Roanoke.
        For more information about the sickle cell anemia center,
call Dr. Waldron at (804) 924-5105.
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                                        February 13, 1995