Prevalence of B-thalassemia carriers among Egyptian school students

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out on randomly selected 550 students divided into 2 groups. For all students, complete medical history, thorough clinical examination and complete blood count were done. The results revealed anemia in 76/250 among group I and in 63/300 among group II, microcytosis in 39/250 among group I and in 56/300 among group II as well as high HbA2 in 41/250 among group I and in 27/300 among group II. Based on microcytosis and high HbA2, the results detected beta-thalassemia carriers in 41/250 among group I and in 27/300 among group II. Group I had a significantly higher prevalence rate of anemia, microcytosis, high HbA2 and beta-thalassemia carriers than group II. This might be due to the differences in the diet consumed, the prevalence rate of parasitic infestations and the higher rate of consanguineous marriage in group I that may lead to the propagation of the recessive traits