A 10-year African trial ends the fear over a cheap daily pill for sickle cell kids

The REACH trial — 606 children treated across Angola, DR Congo, Kenya and Uganda, with more than 5,000 patient-years of follow-up, published in The Lancet Haematology — found hydroxyurea safe for children with sickle cell at maximum tolerated dose: no increase in infections, malaria infection risk down 51%, non-malarial infections down 38%. About 550,000 children are born with sickle cell each year, and roughly 80% of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Led by Prof. Tom Williams of Imperial College London, with Prof. Russell Ware of Cincinnati Children's as senior author.