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How do you get sickle cell anemia or trait?

You inherit the abnormal hemoglobin from your parents. You cannot catch it from someone else or pass it to another person like a cold or other infections. You are born with sickle cell hemoglobin and it is present for life. If you inherit only one sickle gene, you have sickle cell trait and will not develop the disease. If you inherit two sickle cell genes, you have sickle cell anemia.

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