title: Large scale screening for haemoglobin disorders in southern Vietnam: implications for avoidance and management.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: The Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, The Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Riordan
authors.forename: Tran Tinh
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Hien
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miles
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Nguyen Ngoc
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Quyen
authors.forename: Nguyen Quoc
authors.initials: NQ
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Do Quang
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Anh
authors.forename: Luc Nguyen
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Tuyen
authors.forename: Dao Bach
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Khoa
authors.forename: Cao Quang
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Thai
authors.forename: Dao Minh
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Triet
authors.forename: Nguyen Hoan
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Phu
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dunstan
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peto
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clegg
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Farrar
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weatherall
mesh_terms: D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D005953:Glycogen Storage Disease Type I / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D006446:Hemoglobin E / Q000032:analysis; D006453:Hemoglobinopathies / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000458:organization & administration; D009154:Mutation; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration; D015995:Prevalence; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology; D017085:alpha-Thalassemia / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006446:Hemoglobin E