It's a disease most common to African-Americans. Babies are especially vulnerable.

The disease is caused by a gene mutation and if both parents have the trait, a newborn has a one-in-four chance to contract the disease.

In southeast Michigan, Dr. Wanda Whitten-Shurney, director of the newborn screening program for sickle cell disease at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, has treated many patients.

"(Babies) go into shock, they get pneumonia, they get meningitis, they go deaf, they die," said Shurney.

Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. Normal red blood cells are round; sickle blood cells are shaped like a sickle used to cut wheat.

Three forms of the disease exist.

The first form is sickle cell anemia, the most severe form. It occurs when a person inherits two abnormal genes (one from each parent) that cause their red blood cells to change shape, according to kidshealth.org.

The second form is sickle cell trait. Inheriting the sickle cell gene from one parent and the normal type of that gene from the other parent is when sickle cell trait occurs, according to marchofdimes.com

The final form is sickle thalassemia disease. It is when a child inherits one copy of the sickle hemoglobin gene from one parent and a thalassemia gene -- a type of anemia -- from the other, according to American Scientific.com.

Screening Children For Disease

In 1987, an expert panel convened by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recommended that all infants born in the United States be screened for sickle cell anemia so that children with the disease could be identified early and offered treatment, according to its Web site.

Children's Hospital has the most comprehensive clinic available in the state, according to Local 4's For Your Children. The clinic, founded by Shurney's father, Dr. Charles Whitten, has existed since 1955.

There are many myths about the prognosis of a person with sickle cell. Shurney told Local 4 that the vast amount of sickle cell disease patients live a long and productive life well into adulthood.

September is sickle cell awareness month. Events are planned locally to raise awareness about the disease. Here are some of the planned events:

11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 24 : Open house, Sickle Cell Disease Association of America Michigan Chapter, 18516 James Couzens Highway, Detroit.

1 to 5 p.m., Monday, Sept. 26: Walk-a-Thon at the Detroit Medical Center Brush Mall (behind Children's Hospital). For information, call (313)-745-5613.

Thursday, Sept. 29: Blood drive at the Northwest Detroit Donor Center in the College Park Commons, 7910 West Outer Drive (corner of Outer Drive and Southfield Freeway). For information, call (313) 999-4196.

For more information about sickle cell disease, click here.