OVERVIEW

Curious Clinicians Episode 81 - Avoiding Malaria is organized by VCU Health Continuing Education.

Date:
Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 10:00 AM - Saturday, December 12, 2026, 11:59 PM

Description:
How does sickle cell trait protect against malaria infection and mortality?

In any medical genetics course, sickle cell trait (SCT) and sickle cell disease (SCD) are sure to be brought up early and often. They follow an easily-understood inheritance pattern and can be used as examples in teaching biochemistry basics such as protein folding and the function of hemoglobin. At the end of such lessons, this “fun fact” is invariably thrown in: SCT helps protect against malaria. This makes a certain amount of sense both evolutionarily and epidemiologically. Since SCD has such high morbidity, there must be a reason that the prevalence of sickle-cell trait is 30-40% in the areas of Africa with the highest rates of malaria transmission. What’s the biology behind this?

Objectives:
Upon completion of this activity, you will be able to:

  • Examine how sickle cell trait protects against malaria infection and severe malaria manifestations.
  • Discuss how sickle trait is associated with a much lower risk of secondary bacteremia resulting from malaria infection.
Credits

Accreditation:
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Curious Clinicians and VCU Health Continuing Education. VCU Health Continuing Education is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

VCU Health Continuing Education designates this enduring material activity for a maximum of 0.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 0.50 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

It is the responsibility of the participant to provide the correct information [ABIM ID Number and DOB (in MMDD format)] in order to receive MOC credit for participating in a CE activity.

Credits:
AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (0.50 hours), ABIM MOC Part 2 (0.50 hours), Non-Physician Attendance (0.50 hours)

  • 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 0.5 MOC
  • TARGET AUDIENCE

    Physician

    SPECIALITIES

    Infectious DiseaseMedical Genetics and GenomicsHematology

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