Abstract

Genetic Hemoglobin Disorders Among the People of Assam-A Tertiary Care Hospital Based Study

Background: Genetic hemoglobin diseases like hemoglobinopathies and thalassemia are prevalent worldwide. In India also, among the people of Assam, there is a high prevalence rate of these genetic blood disorders like HbE, HbS, beta thalassemia minor, beta thalassemia major, and compound HbE-beta-thalassemia. Assam is a hot spot for homozygous and heterozygous HbE. Also, beta thalassemia is encountered among the people of this region of India. With such knowledge of prevalence, the study was done to get more knowledge about the scenario of genetic hemoglobin disease. Methodology: Blood samples were collected from suspected anemic cases attending the tertiary care hospital within 2 years. The diagnosis of the Hb variants was done using a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) based Hemoglobin typing machine and the Complete Blood Count (CBC) was estimated using the automated Cell Counter. Results: It was observed that out of the total 1118 cases tested, 698 (62.43%) were positive for Hb variants like β-thalassemia minor (16.99%), β-thalassemia major (2.32%), Hb E heterozygous (22%), Hb E homozygous (6.62%), Sickle cell trait (3.04%), Sickle cell disease (1.69%), Compound Hb E-β thalassemia (9.66%) and Compound Hb S-β thalassemia (0.1%). Conclusion: In Assam, the HbE variant is mostly prevalent among the Ahoms, Boro, and Kachari individuals, and sickle cell cases are mostly found among the people from the tea garden community. With such a high prevalence rate in the Assamese population of Assam, steps should be taken to curb this genetic disease. The prevalence of this inherited hemoglobin disease can be reduced by implementing awareness programs, imparting genetic counseling, and conducting screening programs. Properly designed community-based studies are required as a health priority to curb genetic blood disorders

• Full-Text
• PDF