Rhesus factor distribution in the Caribbean: preliminary communication

ABSTRACT

A preliminary survey of the distribution of Rhesus factors in Jamaica is recorded and comparisons are made with data from some of the other Caribbean territories. The Rhesus negative chromosome (cde) is not found in the Amerindian; it is rare among Asiatics; it is present in Africans at about half the European frequency. In the Caribbean region, these preliminary enquiries have shown that the scatter of the Rhesus negative chromosome is about that to be expected from the known trends of population miscegenation. It is hoped that the publication of these figures will stimulate a more detailed investigation in the various territories of the West Indies