Newborn screening shows a high incidence of sickle cell anemia in Central India.
There is limited data on the incidence of sickle cell anemia in Central India; we therefore conducted a study to estimate the incidence of this disease in Central India. Mothers who delivered a live baby at the Government Medical College, Nagpur, India were screened for the presence of the sickle cell hemoglobin {Hb S: [β6 (A3) Glu→Val, GAG>GTG]} using the solubility test within 48 hours of delivery. Infants of mothers who showed the presence of Hb S then underwent Hb analysis by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A total of 8243 mothers was screened, 1178 of whom were positive. One thousand, one hundred and sixty-two infants of mothers with a positive solubility test underwent Hb analysis by HPLC; 530 infants were normal, while 536 were heterozygous for Hb S (sickle cell trait), 88 babies were homozygous for Hb S (sickle cell anemia), while another eight babies had other Hb abnormalities. The incidence of sickle cell anemia was highest in the Scheduled caste group (1:50). We concluded that the incidence of sickle cell anemia is high in central India.
Department of Paediatrics, Government Medical College, Nagpur-440009, India. Dipty47@rediffmail.com
Dipty L
DL
Jain
Vijaya
V
Sarathi
Dipty
D
Upadhye
Rohini
R
Gulhane
Anita H
AH
Nadkarni
Kanjaksha
K
Ghosh
Roshan B
RB
Colah
D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000379:methods*; D005838:Genotype; D006451:Hemoglobin, Sickle / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015997:Neonatal Screening / Q000379:methods*
D006451:Hemoglobin, Sickle