title: [Epidemiological study on thalassemia among the children of 0 - 7 years old among the six ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna and Dehong of Yunnan province].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence rate of thalassemia among children of 0 - 7 years old, from six ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna and Dehong, Yunnan province.
  
  
  METHODS
  4973 blood samples from children under 7 years old were automatically undergone blood cell count, red cell osmotic fragility and hemoglobin electrophoresis testings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence rates of thalassaemia, β-thalassemia was 37.4%, and α-thalassaemia were 22.6% and 14.7% respectively. The thalassaemia incidence rates were significantly different among age groups but not in gender. The incidence of α-thalassaemia was decreasing along with the increase of age, while the incidence of β-thalassaemia was increasing along with the increase of age. Xishuangbanna had the higher incidence than in Dehong and the differences were significant between counties, The incidence of thalassemia of Mengla ranked the first (52.2%) in Xishuangbanna, The differences between different regions and different nationalities were significant, with β-thalassemia of Achang ranked the first (40.6%), The incidence of α-thalassemia among Han ranked the first as 45.5% while α-thalassaemia and β-thalassemia were different in regions. α-thalassaemia and β-thalassemia were significantly different between different ethnic people in the same regions. Multiple factor analysis showed that region seemed to be a risk factor and the mother's ethnicity was a protective factor and dependent variable on thalassaemia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence of thalassaemia in Yunnan Xishuangbanna and Dehong was high among children under the age of 7 and were related to ethnic and regional differences in the areas. Specific genes were proliferated along with the extension of time. Our data provided valuable information on prevention and genetic studies on thalassaemia in the minorities of Xishuangbanna and Dehong in Yunnan province.
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Kunming 650051, China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Ming
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Li-Qin
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Li-Mei
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Tuan-Biao
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Li-Sha
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Fa-Bin
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jin-Tao
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xing-Tian
authors.initials: XT
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000208:ethnology*