Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

In order to obtain an approximate assessment of the public health burden that will be posed by the inherited disorders of haemoglobin in southern Vietnam, several thousand individuals were screened for these conditions. A smaller sample was screened for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. The important haemoglobin disorders identified were beta thalassaemia, haemoglobin E and a variety of different forms of alpha thalassaemia. There were sufficient G6PD-deficient individuals to materially affect malaria control programme design. The most remarkable finding was wide variation in the gene frequencies of these conditions among the ethnic groups sampled. The approximate number of babies expected to be born with clinically significant haemoglobin disorders in Vietnam was estimated from the gene-frequency data. This study emphasizes the importance of wide-scale population screening, including ethnic subgroups, to establish the requirements for inherited haemoglobin disorder programmes in resource-limited settings.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-2141.2010.08237.x

Type

Journal article

Journal

Br J Haematol

Publication Date

08/2010

Volume

150

Pages

359 - 364

Keywords

Blood Specimen Collection, Gene Frequency, Genotype, Glycogen Storage Disease Type I, Hemoglobin E, Hemoglobinopathies, Humans, Mass Screening, Mutation, Needs Assessment, Prevalence, Vietnam, alpha-Thalassemia, beta-Thalassemia