Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) is a congenital deficiency in the precursor mechanism of red blood cells causing failure or low production rates of new blood cells in the bone marrow. The disease is usually present at birth or develops during the first year of life, with 50% of males developing the disease by 2 months of age and 3 months for females. The ratio of males to females is 1.1 to 1.