Trusted Resources: Evidence & Education

Scientific literature and patient education texts

Back to Evidence & Education / Patient Education

Sickle Cell Disease Tips for Healthy Living

key information

source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

year: N/A

summary/abstract:

Common illnesses, like the flu, can quickly become dangerous for a person with sickle cell disease. The best defense is to take simple steps to help prevent infections.

1. Washing Hands. Washing your hands is one of the best ways to help prevent getting an infection. People with sickle cell disease, their family, and other caretakers should wash their hands with soap and clean water many times each day. If you don’t have soap and water, you can use gel hand cleaners with alcohol in them.

Times to wash your hands:

BEFORE
• Making food
• Eating

AFTER
• Using the bathroom
• Blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• Shaking hands
• Touching people or things that can carry germs, such
as:
— Diapers or a child who has used the toilet
— Food that is not cooked (raw meat, raw eggs, or
unwashed vegetables)
— Animals or animal waste
— Trash
— A sick person

 

read more

To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close

To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close