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Updated: Aug 28, 2025
A Precision Medicine Tool for Measurement and Monitoring of Hemoglobin S in Sickle Cell Disease Patients Receiving Transfusion Therapy
Hemoglobinopathies and COVID-19: The Experience of a Center in Northern Greece
Christos Varelas1, Eleni Gavriilaki1, Ioanna Sakellari1
1Hematology Department and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Unit, General Hospital "Georgios Papanikolaou", Thessaloniki, Greece.
Insights
Patients with hemoglobinopathies, such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease, faced a low risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. Effective self-applied measures and standard treatments helped manage infections in this vulnerable group.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- Healthcare systems globally confront the ongoing threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
- Hemoglobinopathies, including thalassemia and sickle cell disease, affect numerous individuals worldwide.
- Patients with hemoglobinopathies are often immunocompromised, raising concerns about their vulnerability to COVID-19.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in patients with hemoglobinopathies.
- To identify factors associated with COVID-19 infection outcomes in this patient population.
Main Methods:
- A study was conducted on patients with hemoglobinopathies monitored at a center in Greece during the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (September 2020-April 2021).
- Data collected included patient demographics, comorbidities, and COVID-19 infection outcomes.
- Factors analyzed included age, employment, blood type, hemosiderosis, splenectomy, endocrine disorders, and transfusion dependency.
Main Results:
- Out of 250 patients with hemoglobinopathies, 14 were infected with SARS-CoV-2.
- Nine patients required hospitalization, but none needed intensive care unit (ICU) support.
- All infected patients responded to standard treatment protocols, despite existing comorbidities.
Conclusions:
- While COVID-19 prevalence may be slightly elevated in patients with hemoglobinopathies compared to the general population, severe outcomes were not observed in this cohort.
- Self-applied protective measures appear effective in preventing infection transmission within this group.
- Standard medical care is effective in managing COVID-19 in patients with hemoglobinopathies.
Abstract:
Healthcare systems around the globe are still facing the evolving threat of the coronavavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Hemoglobinopathies include a group of genetic disorders, with the two main entities being thalassemias and sickle cell disease. Due to their immunocompromised status, such patients have been protected as extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. We studied patients with different hemoglobinopathies, consecutively monitored at our center, who were infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) during the second and third waves of the pandemic in Greece (September 2020-April 2021), and associated the outcomes of the infection with the following factors: age, employment, blood type, liver and heart hemosiderosis, splenectomy, concomitant endocrine disorders and transfusion dependency. Among 250 patients monitored at our center, 14 were infected with COVID-19. Nine of them were hospitalized but no one required intensive care unit support and all of them responded to the generally applied treatment plan, despite their comorbidities. Notwithstanding the slightly increased prevalence of COVID-19 in patients with hemoglobinopathies compared to the general population, self-applied measures are still thought to be effective, as our patients got infected through their already sick family members.
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