Systematic Screening of Neonatal Sickle Cell Disease with HemoTypeSC<sup>TM</sup> Kit-Test: Case Study and Literature Review

emoTypeSC™ test is a new cheap, faster, and appropriate screening method for neonatal diagnosis of sickle cell disease. The literature reports a few cases of its applicability. This study extends the cases study and reviews the available literature. The sample consisted of 99 subjects, including 87 newborns (36 girls and 51 boys; 1.9 - 4.9 kg BW) sampled among 566 babies bone at six hospitals in Kisangani city (Democratic Republic of Congo) during March-April 2019; height infant-adolescents (<18 years); and four adults. Duplicate blood samples of 75 newborns, spotted on filter paper, were transferred to Liège in Belgium for LC-MS test confirmation. Of 99 subjects, 74.74% tested HbAA, 24.26% HbAS and 1% HbSS. The prevalence of HbAS compared to the HbAA phenotype was 15/60 (20%) by HemoTypeSC™ and 14/61 (18.7%) by LC-MS. The concordance between the two methods was 98.3% or a discordance of 1.7%. The findings support the validity of the HemoTypeSC™ test as a sensitive, specific point of care test, cheap and reliable for poor African populations.