title: High prevalence of anti-D antibodies among women of childbearing age at Centre Pasteur of Cameroon.
abstract: We conducted a cross sectional retrospective study to determine anti-D and D-negative phenotype rates among Cameroonian women of reproductive age (15-44 years), in order to evaluate the importance of D alloimmunization. Analysis of the haematology laboratory records from January 2006 to December 2007 harvested 225 results for red blood cell alloantibody screening and 2460 D phenotypes. Anti-D rate was found to be high at 4% and not linked to women's parity. Three hundred and fifty two (14.3%) women were found to be D-negative. Anti-D rates significantly decreased with age from 18.8% among teenagers (15-19) to 7.8% among older women (35-44) (p = 0.001). The number of women submitted to both irregular antibody screening and type D phenotype determination was not strong enough (50) to analyse the link between anti-D rate and antigen D distribution in our study.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Hematology, Centre Pasteur, Yaounde, Cameroon. belinga@pasteur-yaounde.org
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Belinga
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ngo Sack
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bilong
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manga
authors.forename: Marie-Ange
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mengue
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tchendjou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002163:Cameroon / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007518:Isoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D008403:Mass Screening; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System / Q000276:immunology*; D018029:Rho(D) Immune Globulin; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007518:Isoantibodies; C061961:RHO(D) antibody; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System; D018029:Rho(D) Immune Globulin